


Just A Little Complicated

by celticheart72



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Complicated Relationships, F/M, First Dates, First Kiss, First Meetings, First Time, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Resolved Sexual Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-13
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2018-10-31 05:30:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 14
Words: 34,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10892697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celticheart72/pseuds/celticheart72
Summary: Rafael Barba meets an intriguing, complicated woman at the bar in Forlini's one evening prompting him to leave her his card with a note.





	1. The Meet Cute

**Author's Note:**

> This one has been playing in my head for a while now, I really wanted to write a fic where my OFC was just meeting and getting to know Barba. For anyone reading my other Barba/OFC fic that will continue to be ongoing, this isn't replacing it. This one will have some drama and angst and new relationship awkwardness. Archive warnings primarily apply for cases Barba will be working with SVU that are mentioned, starts in season 18 between No Surrender and Genes. Explicit rating set for future chapters.

Liliyana Connolly sat at the end of the bar in Forlini's with her laptop sitting in front of her typing away, listening to the people around her carry on their conversations. Sometimes she felt so intrusive, sitting there, listening and typing, but it gave her perspective on life and people she might not otherwise have. She heard the good and the bad, sad stories and happy ones, anger and excitement. All of it was a source of inspiration for her writing. Anthony, the regular bartender, had become a friend of sorts since she was there at least three days a week working and eating dinner and he knew more about her crazy life than was probably appropriate for the nature of their relationship.

Life had been good for the most part, though she certainly had her ups and downs as did anyone, nothing was guaranteed and happiness for most people was fleeting. Her mother, Sabina, emigrated from Russia to New York City at the age of 18 where she met and married Lili's father, Peter Connolly, a Queens homicide squad captain soon approaching mandatory retirement. They'd been married forty years and had three children they doted on, Liliyana was the youngest child at age 36 behind two brothers. Since her oldest brother, Nikolai, had joined the Marines out of high school, and their middle brother, Dennis, moved to Alaska and was a State Trooper her parents had paid to put her through college so she was able to graduate with a Masters in Literature without any student loan debt. Thank you, Mom and Dad!

For eight years after graduation she taught undergrad literature at Hudson University before the culture there finally drove her out. Somewhere in the midst of that she met her ex-boyfriend, Jack, and had a daughter, Samantha, who was now six. Jack was often a source of her downs as he was a drug addicted alcoholic and while he loved their daughter his parenting skills were as fleeting as his ability to hold down a job. Lili never said a bad word about him to Sami, she felt it was up to her daughter to form her own opinions regarding her dad, but there were times that his poor choices put Sami in jeopardy and Lili had to step in. It was one of the reasons why after leaving Hudson that she opted for a career where she could work from home. If Jack flaked she had to be able to rush to the rescue at any hour and bosses didn't like that. Sami needed one stable parent and since child support was also fleeting at best she had to do it all on her own. Well, not entirely on her own, her mother and father took Sami three days a week, often overnight, and whenever Lili needed a sitter. Jack was supposed to have her one night a week and every other weekend but the reality was that he saw her maybe once or twice a month.

While Lili and Sami lived in a modest apartment in the lower east side of Manhattan they didn't want for much. Lili was a successful self-published romance author, and she was still able to put her Masters to use and write literary textbooks and study guides. When Jack did pay child support she added it to Sami's education fund rather than relying on it. There were the occasions Jack would have a good week or month and in addition to child support he'd pick up some things for Sami like clothes or toys. The biggest problem was Sami was a smart child, too smart for her age (like her mother), and she saw more than Lili probably realized.

Shaking her head away from her thoughts of Lili she returned to her writing when out of her peripheral vision she saw a very handsome well-dressed man in a tan overcoat walk in. He waved Anthony over and ordered a scotch neat. She'd seen him there before multiple times, sometimes with a dark-haired woman who appeared to be a colleague of his. If she were to guess he'd have to be a lawyer, he often had what looked like court files with him and would work at the bar or in a booth as she so often did herself. He took his overcoat and suit jacket off and laid it over the back of his chair before rolling his sleeves up and loosening his tie. God, how could a man who looked that handsome in a suit look even more so when he mussed himself up a bit? Grinning to herself she thought she would have to find a way to incorporate a character into one of her books that wore a three-piece suit just so she could muss him up herself. Her fingers started to itch as they flew over her keys and she just shook her head at her libido. Well, when one's romantic life sucked at least there were BOBs and books and it was seeming like a BOB night in the tub once Sami was asleep.

"Would you like a menu Mr. Barba?" She heard Anthony say to the man. Barba? That sounded Spanish, maybe Cuban? He could definitely be Cuban, he had the tan tone to his skin and short dark hair with just a touch of gray that told her he was probably in his early 40s. Now she needed to know his first name, curiosity was burning in her brain but despite writing romance novels she wasn't good at the meet cute in person.

"Yes, thank you Anthony," he replied politely. His voice was a nice baritone, the kind that with just the slightest change in tone or inflection could express anger or passion.

Anthony handed Mr. Barba a menu who set it down in front of himself then pulled a file and legal pad from his briefcase which he then set down on the floor at his feet. Opening the menu he glanced quickly at it then closed it and set it on the bar rail in front of him. Ever the attentive bartender Anthony went back to him and asked what he wanted to order.

"I'll have the Invollini," he said then opened his file and started writing on the legal pad.

She tilted her head back and rolled her shoulders hearing her neck crack, the curls of her strawberry blonde hair bouncing as she moved her head. When she looked back at her computer she noticed Mr. Barba had tilted his head her way and had a slight smirk on his handsome face. Lili also noticed a very sexy 5 o’clock shadow playing about his jaw.

“You spend too much time hunched over a computer,” he said to her and set his pen down, his eyes, she noticed were an incredible shade of green.

She bounced her left shoulder which was closest to him, “Probably. One of the detriments of being a writer.”

That seemed to intrigue him, “A writer? Anything I might have read?”

Lili laughed and a snort escaped before she could stop herself making him chuckle, “Sorry. I really doubt a man of your caliber would have read anything I write.”

His brow furrowed and he turned her way slightly, she could see the outline of suspenders under his vest. Wow. “You never know, try me.”

Her smile grew wider, “Well, unless you read literature textbooks or smutty romance novels you probably haven’t read anything I’ve written.”

She heard him groan and even that was sexy, “You don’t write books like _25 Acts_ do you?”

“No, I said smutty, not pornographic,” Lili said with another snort and shuddered at the thought of that book. Somehow Jack had gotten ahold of a copy and tried to push her into trying some of the ‘Acts.’

He seemed to remember something and stood up taking a step toward her and held out his hand, “I apologize, I’m Rafael Barba.”

If she were to guess he had to be about 5’9”, half a foot taller than her, if she wore heels she’d probably reach his nose. The perfect height. For a lot of things. Oh god, she thought, and took a deep breath as she shook his hand, his cologne was intoxicating, “I’m Liliyana Connolly, Lili for short if you prefer.”

“Liliyana,” he tried her name on his tongue and it sounded so good falling from his lips as he retook his seat.

Anthony brought his dinner out then and set it in front of him, “Can I bring you anything else Mr. Barba?”

“No, thanks Anthony,” Rafael replied with a smile.

“Ms. Lili,” Anthony looked at her and pointed at his wrist.

She gasped and hopped off her seat shrugging her black wool coat on, “Crap! Thank-you Anthony! I’m sorry Rafael, I have to go.” Gathering her laptop she shoved it in her bag which she shouldered, and unable to resist as she walked by Rafael she grasped his bicep which was solid under his rolled up shirt sleeve. “It was really nice meeting you, I’m sure I’ll see you again.”

Lili rushed out of the restaurant and hailed a cab to take her to her apartment where her mother was waiting for her with Sami.

**Rafael**

He leaned back just slightly and watched Lili rush out of the restaurant, her hips swaying slightly as she walked. It didn’t escape his notice that she had a very pleasing to the eye hour glass figure.

“She’s complicated,” Anthony said from a few feet away, when Rafael turned his head the bartender was looking at a glass he was drying.

“Aren’t they all?” Rafael asked with a chuckle and picked up his fork to try the prosciutto, cheese, and mushroom stuffed shrimp. Taking a bite he chewed and glanced up to Anthony who was wearing a speculative look.

Chuckling Anthony put the glass he had been drying away, “Good point.”

Reaching down to his briefcase he pulled one of his cards from the front of it and picked up his pen and wrote on the back of it before handing it over to Anthony. “Do me a favor? Next time you see her, give this to her?”

“Sure Mr. Barba,” Anthony pocketed the card and went back to drying glasses.

Rafael went back to his case file as he ate his dinner and tried to shake Lili’s light floral perfume from his senses. He spent so much time working that the only female companionship he typically had was his mother, assistant, other lawyers, or Liv and Amanda. His mother had been trying to fix him up with a young teacher at her charter school for the last month and he’d steadfastly refused citing he was simply too busy. The last date he had was at least three months ago and it basically ended as a one night stand. Granted the sex was good but both he and the woman agreed they really didn’t have any chemistry outside the bedroom and neither was looking for just a ‘fuck buddy.’

His phone started ringing in his jacket pocket. Rolling his eyes he took the last bite of his dinner and set his fork down before retrieving his phone. Of course, it was Liv.

“Hey Liv,” he answered and tucked his phone between his ear and left shoulder as he pulled his wallet from his pocket and set his credit card down on the bar rail for Anthony to run it.

He sighed as Liv lamented the lack of evidence in their current investigation. Another rape on the Hudson University Campus. Dropping his forehead into his right hand he ground his palm into his eyes, “Liv, it’s 9 o’clock on a Friday night, I can’t get anything done tonight barring exigent circumstances. I’m going to the judge Monday morning for the warrant…Yes Liv, I know…Okay, goodnight.”

Anthony dropped his receipt and card back on the bar in front of him, “Definitely complicated.”

That got a surprised laugh out of Rafael, “You have no idea.” Signing the receipt and leaving Anthony a decent tip he tucked his card back in his wallet and drank down his scotch before he gathered up his file and legal pad, shoved them in his briefcase, and put his jacket and overcoat back on. “Goodnight Anthony.”

Rafael walked out of the restaurant into the cool March night air and hailed a cab to take him to his Upper West Side apartment where he would probably just drown himself in case files and scotch. Most likely he’d fall asleep on his couch, his stockinged feet propped up on his coffee table, and the TV tuned to some old movie as often happened. In the morning, he would get up and head over to his mother’s for breakfast as he did every Saturday since his abuelita passed away. Looking out of the window of the cab as the city passed by he hoped Anthony would see Lili soon and she’d be intrigued enough by the note on his card to call him. It had been a long time since a woman had caught his attention as quickly and easily as she had.


	2. Parents!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lili talks to her dad and publisher, Jack fails as a father again, and Rafael's mother tries to talk to him about his love life.

Lili woke up Saturday morning to the sound of clinking dishes in the kitchen, she looked at her bedside clock and noted it was just 7a.m. Either Sami was up already and looking for cereal, or one of her parents was in the kitchen cooking. And cue the smell of coffee…she smiled. That would be her Dad. Stretching her arms over her head she twisted a little side to side to loosen her tightened muscles, and went to her closet to put on the bra she discarded last night in her hamper. It was one thing to walk around her house braless when her mother was around, quite another to do it with her father in the house.

When she got down her short hallway (consisting of her bedroom, Sami’s, and the one bathroom) and into the living room she saw Sami sitting at a stool in front of the island that separated the kitchen from the living room. Her father was standing at the stove making what was probably chocolate chip pancakes, Sami’s favorite. During the two years that her parents had custody of Sami (long story for another time) her father had absolutely doted on Sami, he was the closest thing to a stable father that Sami had to be honest. Lili leaned back against the arch of the hallway leading into the living room and watched her father. He was tall and had always been lean, but with age had added a little fat to the muscle, his hair was still the same strawberry blonde that Lili had gotten from him without a touch of gray. She had gotten her mother’s honey colored eyes though.

Her mother had always said that you knew you had met the one you were meant to spend your life with when time stood still for a moment when your eyes met. That was how Sabina had known Peter was her happily ever after. She never had that moment with Jack, and could admit now that she never really loved him. It had been lust and infatuation with a man who was too charming for his own good. Despite that realization, she was thankful at least for the time she had with Jack until Sami was conceived because Sami was the greatest gift of her life thus far. Her father turned then to put a plate of pancakes in front of Sami who reached out for the butter to slather on them. Lili smiled when Peter lifted his eyes to meet those of his only daughter and he waved her forward. Ever the dutiful daughter she moved to her father’s side and he planted a kiss on her forehead before wrapping one of his strong arms around her shoulders and hugging her.

“Good morning baby,” he said to her with a smile lighting his baby blue eyes. “Would you like some chocolate chip pancakes too?”

She heard Sami giggle, “Mommy doesn’t eat chocolate unless she’s sad.”

Lili’s mouth dropped open as she looked at her own daughter smiling like a crazy child as she stuffed a mouthful of pancakes into her mouth. “That is not entirely true. I eat chocolate when I’m happy too.” Turning to her father she shook her head, “Actually Daddy no. I’ve really got to get in the shower and get my behind moving today. I need to drop the draft of the study guide I wrote off to the publisher’s office and since you and Mama have Sami this weekend I want to try to get my current book finished so I can send it for edits and start the next.”

He dropped his eyes to Sami mouthing the word ‘Jack’ over her head.

She shrugged and mouthed back ‘No call.’

Peter turned around to the stove and braced his hands on the counter. Lili knew his heart ached for Sami since he could never imagine abandoning his children the way Jack had essentially abandoned Sami. Bringing his emotions under control Peter turned back around to look at Lili, she could see the fading anger in his eyes as he smiled for his daughter. “Okay baby. We’ll probably be gone when you get out. Sami’s already packed for the weekend, your mother will bring her home tomorrow night after dinner.”

“Thanks Daddy,” Lili said and hugged her father kissing his cheek warmly.

He turned back to the stove and started cleaning up as Lili hugged her own daughter.

“And you, my crazy child, behave for Grandma and Grandpa, okay,” she kissed Sami’s curly blonde head.

Sami looked at her mother like she was the crazy one, “Mommy, I’m six, not two.”

“Out of the mouths of babes,” Peter threw over his shoulder.

Lili brought her hand up to cover her mouth and the barely contained giggles at her own child, “Yes baby I know.” Sami threw her mother a silly smile as Lili went back to the bathroom to take her shower.

She dressed in dark blue jeans, a jade green ¾ sleeve V-necked knit top, a pair of high heeled black ankle boots, small gold hoops in her ears, and a black and gold beaded necklace around her neck. Her strawberry blonde hair fell in soft curls around her shoulders and her only makeup was black mascara and a dark berry lip stain that she added a shimmery gloss to. Grabbing her laptop bag she put her laptop and study guide draft in it and walked out into the living room again. Her father and Sami were already gone. Cursing Jack for the dozenth time since the night before she sent him another text message which she was sure would go unanswered.

_Lili: Since I haven’t heard from you my mom and dad have Lili for the weekend. She misses you so could you call her please?_

Sighing she tossed her phone back in her bag and grabbed her black leather jacket from the hall closet before heading over to her publisher’s office. They were preliminarily happy with her study guide draft and were sending it to the editors for review. She was pleasantly surprised when her publisher mentioned wanting to look at her current romance novel, the first of a new series, as they were considering offering her a contract for the series if they liked the first one. Knowing the book was almost done she told him that she’d have the manuscript to him in two weeks, he was very happy with that timeline. With a spring in her step she left his office and opted to duck into Forlini’s for a celebratory glass of wine.

Taking her usual place at the end of the bar she settled in with a smile and asked Anthony for a glass of sweet moscato. When he put her glass in front of her she noticed he set a business card down with it. He winked at her as he walked to the other end of the bar to take care of someone else.

She picked up the card and noted it belonged to Rafael Barba, geesh saying his name in her head was even sexy. And as she examined the card she realized he was a Manhattan Assistant District Attorney. Score one point for her powers of deduction. She knew he had to be a lawyer. His name and office address and number were on the front along with the indication that he was part of the Trial Division, Special Victims Bureau but on the back he’d written a message in a messy script.

_Would love to have dinner with you and hear some of your writing sometime. Call or text me anytime. Rafael._

His cell phone number was written below the note. Smiling to herself she pulled her phone from her bag and programmed it into her contacts and sent him a text message.

**Rafael**

He was picking at his eggs and heard his mother huff across the table from him. Lifting his eyes to her she gave him a determined look.

“I don’t understand you Rafi. She’s a perfectly nice young woman. Why not call her?” She was saying to him.

“Mami, I don’t need your help finding a date,” he told her firmly, and stuffed the last of his eggs into his mouth.

“When was the last time you brought a woman over to meet me? Huh? The last woman I met was Detective Benson, and according to you there’s nothing there,” she pressed, pointing her own fork at him.

He stood from the table and picked up his plate to take to the kitchen, “She’s a friend and I work with her. I don’t take home people I work with Mami, it’s a bad idea. And I learned a long time ago bringing dates home to meet you usually means there won’t be a date after that.”

She followed behind him with her own plate and pushed him out of the way when he tried to take it from her to wash their breakfast dishes. “Are you saying you can’t introduce your mother to your girlfriends?”

Rafael rolled his eyes, he wasn’t going to win this argument with her. He’d been an attorney for twenty-one years and she still got the better of him in any argument with her, “Not what I said, Mom. But, your first question is never ‘So what do you do for a living’ it’s always ‘So do you want to marry my son and how many babies to do you want?’”

His mother shrugged her shoulders as she washed a dish and passed it to him to dry, “What? I can’t ask?”

“It’s probably better that you don’t ask those kinds of questions to a woman I’ve only known a week or just gone on a few dates with. It tends to scare them away,” he told her honestly as he opened the cabinet to put the dish he’d dried away.

“Then maybe you’re dating the wrong kinds of women,” she said as if that was the entire issue.

“Mami…” He moved his eyes to look at her as he held out his hand for the next dish.

“Alright, alright. I get it. But I still think Maria would be a nice young woman for you. She’s only 30 so plenty of time for babies,” she said and looked at him with a smirk.

“Okay, that’s it,” he dropped the towel he was using to dry the dishes on the counter and kissed her cheek. “I have to go.”

“Rafael…” she followed him to the door.

He put a hand up to stop her saying anything else, “Nope, not discussing my love life with my mother any more today. Love you Mom.” He hugged her, plucked his brown jacket from the coat closet, and left her apartment.

A few hours later he was sitting on his couch flipping channels on the TV with one of his work files on his lap when his phone pinged with an incoming text message.

Rafael rolled his eyes and picked it up, “Liv if you’re…” He started before he realized he didn’t recognize the number. Swiping his thumb across the screen he typed in his code to unlock the phone and looked at the message.

_Somehow, I doubt my writing would keep a Special Victims ADA’s interest, but dinner sounds great. Tonight at Forlini’s at 7? Lili_

Rafael smiled, so she’d gotten his card and his note prompted her to text him. He saved her phone number in his phone and typed out a text back to her.

_Rafael: You never know until you try me. 7 tonight sounds good._

His phone was quiet and he was concerned his teasing scared her, but after a long minute his phone pinged again.

_Lili: Try you, huh?_ (she included a winky face) _Well just remember I warned you._

_Rafael: I doubt there is anything you could say that would shock me._

And he meant that, but as an afterthought he realized that might have sounded a little forward to a woman he technically just met. Apparently she didn’t think so though as evidenced by her next text.

_Lili: REALLY? Oooh, I love a challenge Mr. ADA._ (another winky face)

Rafael chuckled and realized for the first time in a VERY long time he was looking forward to a date with a woman. Even if she turned out to be as complicated as Anthony believed.


	3. A Few Firsts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rafael and Lili's first date with some sexual tension and truth telling, as well as a first kiss.

Lili looked at the clock on her laptop and realized she needed to get ready for her date with Rafael, it was 5:30 and she really wanted to leave him wanting a second date. She and Jack had broken up just after Sami turned 2, and she hadn’t been able to date for two years after that. Unfortunately, in the last two years she hadn’t made it past a second date. It had been her policy since starting to date again that if after the first date she really did find she liked the guy and wanted to go out with him again that he should know she had a child, a complicated ex, and was a romance novelist. Surprisingly some guys found a woman that wrote romance novels a major turn off, she thought they probably found it intimidating and difficult to live up to the characters she wrote. Others didn’t want to deal with a woman with baggage as she’d been told but there had been several who did ask her out a second time. It never failed though, Jack would always ruin things for her either during or right after that second date. He’d either call screaming about something, she’d have to rush off to get Sami from wherever he left her, or he’d show up at her apartment when she had her date over and go bat shit crazy. That always served to chase the guy away and piss Lili and her libido off, especially when she really liked the guy and was hopeful for some level of intimate contact. She had gotten through a couple of first dates that ended in one night stands but she really wanted something stable and real, something like what her parents had.

She opened her closet doors and looked at her dresses, she wanted something sexy but not whorish. It needed to hit right above her knees, and show some cleavage but not too much. Her eyes settled on her favorite black dress that she usually wore when she was really attracted to a guy, it was a silk jersey wrap dress that tied at her right side and reached right above her knees. Paired with a lace bra, a pair of high heels, and the right accessories it was a knockout ensemble. She pulled it off the hanger and tossed it over to her bed and went to her dresser, and chose a burgundy lace bra and thong set. Not that she intended to have sex with him that night, but if his hand happened to skim her pantyline she wanted it to be a sexy one. She also chose a pair of strappy black high heeled sandals, a gold chain necklace with a rhinestone drop that sat right above her cleavage, and she’d keep her gold hoops in her ears. To her makeup from earlier in the day she added a champagne shimmery shadow to her lids and the inside corners of her eyes, a black winged eyeliner, and she freshened the berry lip stain and gloss she wore earlier. Her hair she left loose around her face in the soft curls her hair naturally dried into. When she looked in the full-length mirror in her bedroom she had to admit she looked like a knockout even if she felt more like the homey girl next door. Giving herself a spray of her favorite light jasmine scented perfume she decided she was as ready as she’d ever be. She pulled on her black wool coat, shoved her laptop in her bag and shouldered it, locked up her apartment, and caught a cab to the restaurant.

When she got to Forlini’s she could see Rafael was already sitting in a booth at the back of the bar area facing the door with a file in front of him and he was writing on a legal pad next to him. He was wearing a dark suit jacket, a grey blue dress shirt underneath with the first three buttons unbuttoned to show the black t-shirt he wore underneath. His hair was in a more casual slightly messy style and he still wore the stubble on his face she saw the day before though it had grown in a little more. It just made him even sexier to look at. She let the door close behind her and started toward him, his eyes lifted and caught hers and he smiled, a slow sexy smile, then stood up to greet her.

“Hello Lili,” he said as she approached the booth and put her laptop bag on the bench pushing it close to the wall.

She smiled shyly at him, “Hi Rafael.”

When she started to unbutton her coat he reached to her shoulder and turned her so that her back was to him and he took the coat from her to hang it with his own tan overcoat on the coat rack standing a few feet from their table. She turned back around and to face him and his eyes dropped to skim her body, paused at her cleavage and the lace there, and rose back up to meet her eyes again. With a self-satisfied smile she sat down as he retook his seat across from her.

“You look beautiful,” he complimented her, his voice deeper than the last time she spoke to him.

Her lips curved up on the right side as she looked at him, “Thank you. You look scrumptious yourself.”

His eyebrow rose at her choice of wording, “Scrumptious? That’s one I haven’t heard before.”

She laughed slightly, no snorting this time, “Well good, I like to be different.” God she was nervous as hell, and she was absolutely sure it was showing.

“I hope you don’t mind, I asked Anthony what you normally drink and he said you liked Moscato so I asked him to bring you a glass,” Rafael told her waving to the glass of wine she hadn’t noticed until then, he had a glass of some dark amber liquid sitting in front of him. He’d closed his file and laid it over the legal pad on the table pushing it to the end close to the wall.

“I don’t mind at all, thank you,” she picked up the wine glass and sipped it, the alcohol giving her a little liquid courage.

Anthony chose that moment to come to their table to see if they wanted to order. Rafael chose the Stuffed Baked Shrimp and Lili the Panserolli Piacenlina.

Once he left Lili placed her elbows on the table and dropped her chin onto her laced hands. “So you want to hear some of my writing huh?” She asked him with a grin and an intrigued expression.

Rafael laid his forearms on the table and smirked at her, “I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t. Go ahead, try me.”

Lili inwardly rolled her eyes and admonished her libido to stay where it was, he had no idea how loaded that statement was.

**Rafael**

He noticed Lili’s cheeks flush slightly when he said try me which told him she was as attracted to him as he was to her. Watching as she turned to her laptop bag he noted that her dress gaped away from her chest just slightly to show a tiny bit more of her burgundy lace bra, which did not appear to be lined. He’d also taken notice when he took her coat that she didn’t seem to have a panty line making him wonder if she had come from her apartment without any panties on. He groaned in his head, this was going to be an interesting conversation if her writing was as appealing as she was.

She had her laptop out then and with a grin hit a few keys then cleared her throat and looked at him under her eyelashes. “Before the apple Adam knew Eve in the most primal of animal ways, but that knowing was just in the act. They mated not for the pleasure of it but for the baser need to procreate. After the Apple Adam still knew Eve in the same way but now they wanted to know what it was they were doing. Why they were doing it. How it felt when they watched each other.”

And that he thought was the death of him. He knew somehow that she was talking about _The Scarlet Letter_ so the excerpt she read had to be from one of the texts she’d written, but the way she read it and the slight flush to her cheeks as she read it undid him. It wasn’t the first time he’d heard or read himself something along the lines of what she just read to him, he’d read much more graphic, and it never had any affect on him so he didn’t think challenging her to read something to him that she wrote would either. What he’d failed to consider was how the words impact might change when they were read by an incredibly beautiful and sexy woman.

Holding up a hand to her he raised a finger with a slight smirk, “I think you’re tricking me. That sounds like a literary text interpretation of _The Scarlet Letter_.” Rafael just needed to get her to stop talking long enough to calm his libido down. He was a sex crimes ADA for Christ sake, letting himself get worked up in a restaurant bar wasn’t exactly in the best of taste. Apparently, he hadn’t thought this through very well.

She laughed then clapped both hands to her mouth when the laughing turned to a snort. He grinned, what she didn’t realize was that her tendency to snort when she was laughing was actually adorable.

“I’m so sorry,” her cheeks pinkened even more.

At least he’d gotten her to stop reading. “You have nothing to apologize for, it’s cute.”

Her smile grew even wider if that were possible, “Thanks, I’m kind of self-conscious about it.”

He clicked his tongue, “No one should ever make you self-conscious about something that’s a part of you.”

“Wow,” she was giving him a speculative look and watching him. “Are you for real?”

That caught him off guard, “What do you mean?”

She folded her arms across the table in front of her and leaned forward a little making her dress gape open just a bit more, but he kept his eyes on hers. “At the potential cost of scaring off one of the most attractive men I’ve ever met can I be honest?”

He spluttered at the compliment that she didn’t even seem to realize had fallen out of her mouth, “Of course. I’d prefer it.”

“With some exceptions men tend to be very visual, little things turn them off. The quirks that go into making up a woman’s persona tend to be the things that turn them off and send them running. They don’t tend to give reassurances of their own volition or try to figure out what a woman is thinking. Somehow, I don’t think that’s the case with you,” she said matter of factly.

He sat back and laid his right palm on the table in front of him, “No, it’s not.”

Smiling then she moved her laptop back to her bag, “So tell me more about you Rafael. I know you’re a Special Victims ADA, you like shrimp, you respect woman.”

Laughing he shook his head and watched her as they started talking about what they each did, likes and dislikes, her brothers and parents, his mother, and he found that he really like Lili. She was sweet, kind-hearted, and smart in addition to being beautiful. When their dinner came they continued talking and before they knew it they’d been sitting in their booth talking for almost 5 hours and the restaurant was getting ready to close in half an hour. Lili cleared her throat then and got serious with him.

“Look Rafael, I really like you,” she started and he worried that while he felt something this was where she told him there was no chemistry from her end. “And I’d like to see you again, but there are some things you need to know.”

He breathed a sigh of relief, at least she wanted to see him again. “Okay, and what is that?”

“For one, I have a six-year-old daughter,” she said, he could see her pull her bottom lip between her teeth and chew on it while she waited for his reaction.

Smiling to reassure her he reached a hand over to cover hers that was laying on the table in front of her. While he didn’t have a lot of experience with children he didn’t dislike them, and had gotten much better with Noah so he didn’t think a little girl could be that scary. “That’s not a deal breaker if that’s what you’re afraid of.”

She let out a breath and nodded, he ran his thumb over the back of her hand and watched as her fingers jumped in response. “I was. But that’s not all. Her father, my ex-boyfriend, is difficult. He’s not reliable and I’ve had issues because of it. It’s a long story, for another time, but he’s caused me a lot of problems. My parents help out a lot but if you continue seeing me it’s a package deal.”

“I can accept that,” he told her honestly, and he could. She’d have to accept some level of disruption as well because of his job so he couldn’t exactly refuse to accept her disruptions. “If we’re truth telling I should tell you too that often my job takes over and I don’t always have a lot of time to give. But I can promise I’ll do what I can to focus my attention on you when we’re together.”

And with that she gave him a beaming smile and placed her other hand on top of his and gave it a squeeze, “It’s a deal Rafael.”

Anthony brought the check over then and Lili reached for it but Rafael snatched it up before she could put her hands on it. He pulled his wallet from his pocket, got his credit card out, and handed it back to Anthony.

Lili gave him a look, “I can pay for myself you know.”

That made him chuckle, “I don’t doubt you can, but I’m the one that asked you to have dinner with me. My Abuelita and Mami raised me to respect women and treat them properly, and that includes paying for dinner when I ask a woman on a date.”

“God, I hope you’re not too good to be true,” she said, and slapped her hands over her mouth with an embarrassed look. “Sorry, sometimes my filter doesn’t work.”

“I can assure you that what you see is what you get with me,” he told her seriously.

Anthony came back and dropped his card and receipt on the table in front of him, Rafael added a generous tip, and signed the receipt. He stood up after putting his files and legal pad into his briefcase and grabbed her coat from the rack and helped her put it on before shrugging his own on, picking up his briefcase, and offering her his arm. She grinned over at him as she shouldered her laptop bag and looped her hand over his offered arm. They said goodnight to Anthony and made their way outside where they each waited for a cab since they were going in opposite directions. When the first pulled to a stop at the curb he made her take it, he wouldn’t have her standing on the sidewalk at nearly midnight waiting for another cab after he’d left. She assured him she’d be fine once she got to her apartment building and before she got into the cab she wrapped her hands around the lapels of his overcoat and stepped closer to him. He rested his hands at her hips and smiled as that light floral scent of hers filled his nostrils again.

“I really enjoyed dinner Rafael, and would love to see you again,” she told him with a smile as he leaned in closer to her.

“Oh, you’ll be seeing me again,” he reassured her and touched his lips to hers with just enough passion behind the kiss to let her know that he meant what he said. When his lips touched hers he felt like time stopped for just a minute and he could feel his lips tingle.

She hummed as he kissed her which made him want more but propriety won him over and he let her go.

Touching her fingers to her lips she looked at him with wide eyes, “Wow.”

He chuckled and gave her another quick kiss, “Goodnight Lili. Text me once you’re safely home so I don’t worry all night.”

She nodded and got into the backseat of the cab and it pulled away. When the next one pulled up he got in and he gave the driver his address to take him home. Twenty minutes later his cell phone pinged.

_Lili: I’m home safe and sound. Thank you again for dinner, I had a really good time with you. And again. Just. Wow._

Rafael chuckled and his fingers flew over the keys of his phone as he responded.

_I concur. Wow._


	4. Deposition Games

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rafael and Lili have lunch and play word games with each other leaving them both wanting more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unresolved smutty chapter warning.

Over the course of the next few weeks Lili talked to or texted with Rafael nearly every day. Whether he called her just to say hello, or she texted him to see how his day was going it was something each day. Quite often they would talk for at least an hour late at night after she had put Sami to bed, sometimes much longer than that. He’d started calling her cariño which he had to tell her meant sweetie in the context he was using it, he also called her Hermosa a few times which she knew meant beautiful. They made plans for a second date twice that they had to postpone both times. One dinner date because Rafael was called into the squad late on a rape case and the second a lunch date because Lili was called into her publisher’s office.

Lili really wanted to see Rafael again so as she was leaving her publisher’s office on a Wednesday afternoon, just a few days after they last postponed, she decided to call him to see if he was free for lunch.

“Barba,” he answered his phone on the first ring.

Lili giggled and said in her most serious tone, “Barba, it’s Connolly. We have a problem.”

There was total silence on the other end for a beat then in a serious tone, “I agree. There’s a serious abuse of discretion going on in this case, and I can’t get the defense in the same room to discuss a plea.”

“Well the defense would like to meet with the prosecution for lunch and perhaps discuss that plea,” she really had no idea what she was talking about but she was having fun with it.

“Unfortunately, the prosecution can’t leave his office right now,” Rafael returned, sounding disappointed.

“What if the defense brought lunch to the prosecutions office to discuss the plea? Maybe make arrangements for a…uh, deposition?” She asked hopefully.

“A deposition? We may have to discuss what that would entail. Come on over Hermosa, I can take a break for lunch in my office,” he told her.

“Wow, if I knew breaking out some legalese over the phone would get me lunch with a handsome prosecutor I would have tried it sooner. Next time I’ll have to try phone sex,” she said, then realized she said the last part out loud when she heard his laughter. “Shit. I’ll see you soon, bye Rafael!”

She hung up the phone quickly to his continued laughter and threw the phone in her purse like it had bitten her. One of these days her tendency to speak before she thought was really going to get her in trouble. God, he probably thought she was some sex crazed romance novel writing single mom that never got out of the house and just totally forgot how to talk to people. Groaning she stopped walking and closed her eyes, how was she going to face him when she got to his office. Dropping her head she sucked in a breath and decided she was just going to suck it up and pretend like she hadn’t said a word. Stopping at a food truck outside of the courthouse she bought two sandwiches and sodas and made her way to Rafael’s office. Luckily one of the things they’d talked about in their late-night talks was food so she knew what to get him.

This was her first time in Rafael’s building and she had to admit it was kind of intimidating. All those ADAs in one place and defense attorneys wandering the halls. When she got to his floor she walked down the hallway until she came to a doorway with the suite number on his card engraved on a plaque next to it, she noted ADA Rafael Barba was emblazoned across the glazed glass of the open door. Walking into his office she found a pretty young black woman sitting behind a desk typing at a computer.

“Uhm, hi, I was looking for ADA Rafael Barba?” Lili said to the woman when she looked up and smiled.

“Are you Lili Connolly?” The woman asked as she stood up and came around the desk.

“Yes,” Lili said giving her a nervous smile.

The woman nodded and went to another door she hadn’t noticed before and knocked lightly before opening the door, “Mr. Barba, Miss Connolly is here.”

Lili walked by the woman into another office where she saw Rafael sitting behind a large desk with his feet propped up on its corner. There were several bookcases with glass doors behind him containing a multitude of what were probably law books. A leather couch sat to the left of the door against the wall with a coffee table in front of it and a table with several chairs around it across from the couch and in front of the desk.

He had the end of a pen stuck in his mouth and when he saw her he smirked at her, “Well hello Miss Connolly.” Dropping the pen to his desk he moved his feet to the floor and stood up, “Thanks Carmen, can you hold my calls for an hour?”

“Sure,” the woman said with a smile and backed out of the office pulling the door closed behind her.

Biting her bottom lip she smiled shyly at him, “Hello Mr. Barba.”

He walked toward her and with that same slow sexy grin from their first date leaned into her giving her a light kiss that made her melt and want more of him. When he pulled back from her he moved one hand to her lower back and held his other hand out toward the couch motioning for her to sit on it. Her lips tingled like she had little sparks running over them and she pressed her fingertips to them with a smile moving around the coffee table to sit down dropping the bag with the food and drinks on top of it. All she could think was ‘wow’ again. Rafael looked down at her with his hands on his hips and the smirk still in place.

“So Miss Connolly would you like to discuss scheduling that deposition,” he asked her. She glanced up to him noting his face was smooth and his hair neat. He was just so incredibly handsome in a light blue dress shirt under a charcoal grey vest with charcoal grey pants and a rust colored tie and all she could think of was mussing him up a little.

Lili laughed then bringing her hand to her mouth when it turned to a snort and he grinned at her before sitting down next to her with his thigh touching hers. “You…” She stuck a finger to his chest, “Are such a tease, you make my brain so weak it forgets to filter the things I probably shouldn’t say out loud.”

He closed her finger in his hand and brought it to his lips kissing the tip of it before letting it go, “I don’t think you quite realize just how attractive those little quirks of yours are.”

She bit her bottom lip again, now her finger was tingling and she needed something to do with her hands before she reached out and mussed Rafael up or used his tie as a leash. Pulling their sandwiches from the bag she handed Rafael’s to him along with his soda. Lili could feel the heat in her cheeks and knew they were red. Making a decision she looked up into his green eyes, “So…what would you say to a home cooked dinner Friday night? My parents have Sami for the weekend.”

**Rafael**

A million and one things were running through Rafael’s brain, primarily genuine hope that the squad wouldn’t call in the middle of another date. “I would say definitely yes, and I will tell Liv and her misfits they are not to call me at all Friday night. What time should I be there?” He unwrapped the sandwich she brought him and took a bite.

Lili had laughed at his characterization of Liv and her detectives as misfits. “Say about 7? Mama is picking up Sami at 5 so that gives me time to get dinner going.”

“Okay, that sounds good, I’ll be there,” he assured her with a smile.

They ate their lunch and he asked about her meeting with her publisher. She happily told him that she signed a deal for the book she had just finished with a promise of four more in the series and they gave her an advance of $20,000 on her royalties. He was happy for her, she seemed so excited about the contract, though inwardly he wished she’d had a lawyer look at it for her first. As he listened to her talk about the series she was writing and the next literary textbook she was researching he found he was genuinely interested in everything about her. That was something he couldn’t say about most of the women he’d met, too often after the first date he found them to be empty. Not empty headed per se, just lacking substance, or too self-absorbed. Lili wasn’t like that at all. She was beautiful and smart, but she was shy and silly too and he noticed she was also self-conscious about a number of things he found attractive about her.

Before they knew it the hour Rafael had for lunch had flown by and he had to get back to work. He stood and cleaned up their trash then reached a hand out to Lili to help her stand from the couch and pulled her into him wrapping his arms around her. She ran her hands over his chest and sighed when he touched his lips to hers. His hands cupped her cheeks and her lips parted allowing him access with his tongue eliciting a soft moan from her. He smiled against her lips when he heard that and her honey colored eyes met his.

“You’re a really good kisser Rafael,” she whispered.

He hummed and put his arms around her, “Really? Well that’s because the woman I’m kissing takes my breath away and makes me want more.”

“Oh boy, I’d better go now or I might just have to really muss you up,” she told him and wiggled in his arms.

His eyes flicked to the couch and he wondered for just a second if a quickie was feasible. Mierda, he thought, he’d never held a woman in his arms that made him consider office sex. That wasn’t happening with Lili, when he finally got the chance to get her in his bed he wanted to take his time. “Yeah,” he said, his voice a little gravely, “That might be a good idea.”

She giggled, “Mmmm, is the prosecution dissatisfied with the plea the defense proposed?”

“To the contrary, the prosecution would like to expedite the allocution and enter the plea,” his lips found hers one more time in a quick kiss before he moved away from her.

Lili had tilted her head to the side and had a huge grin on her face, she ran a finger down the buttons of his vest stopping just before she reached his belt, “Text me when you get home tonight handsome.”

“I will,” was all he could manage to say at that moment. He opened his office door and dropped his chin to his chest as he watched her walk out of his office.

Taking a deep breath he brought himself under control and walked over to Carmen who held up two letters for him to sign and then handed him a new case file. He spent the rest of the afternoon in his office working on an answer tree for a trial he had starting the next day and reviewing the new case that was assigned to him. It was 9 that night before he finally walked through his apartment door.  While toeing off his dress shoes he took off his overcoat, suit jacket, and vest and laid them over one of the arm chairs in his living room. As he undid his tie, which he left loose around his neck, and rolled his shirt sleeves up he poured a glass of scotch then pulled his phone out of the inner pocket of his suit jacket and sat down on his couch.

When he unlocked his phone, he pulled up Lili’s contact and sent her a text as he’d promised.

_Hi cariño, I just made it home._

It didn’t take long for her to respond.

_Lili: What are you wearing?_

That made him choke on his scotch.

_My dress pants and shirt. What are you wearing?_

He hesitated before sending the text, sexting was not his strong suit. Rafael preferred the act to talking about it but he realized he’d probably do anything she asked of him. Hitting send he took a drink of his scotch and waited. When his phone pinged he almost spit his drink out when he read her reply.

_Lili: Nothing. Wanna know what I’m doing?_

Rafael groaned, he could just imagine what she was doing. She was getting him back for being smug that day over her phone sex slip. But he had to admit he really wanted to know what she was doing.

_Of course, cariño. Just what are you doing?_

_Lili: Touching myself. And I’m really wet._

He could feel himself getting hard with just those first two words and had to readjust himself.

_Really?_

Rafael couldn’t remember any other words in English right in that moment.

 _Lili: Yeah, I’m in the tub shaving my legs. What were you thinking?_ (she included a winky face)

He started laughing and groaned at the same time, she’d gotten him all worked up by tricking him.

_You are incorrigible woman!_

_Lili: Maybe just a little._

He took a sip of his scotch and considered how to respond.

_More than just a little cariño. I owe you for that._

_Lili: Oooh, maybe I’ll cash in that IOU Friday night._

_I’ll look forward to it Hermosa._

Shit, he really hadn’t thought things through again. She really had a way of making him forget himself. Downing his scotch he got up and went into his bathroom to take a cold shower.


	5. Mama Has Spoken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mama Connolly tells Lili how it is, Lili and Rafael skip to dessert, and Jack makes an unwelcome appearance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning smut ahead. And mention of/attempt at violence.

Lili was really nervous, she’d been rushing around the apartment all day cleaning and making sure everything was in order. She even checked the condoms in her nightstand drawer to be sure they were in date. To say she was hoping for sex that night was a gross understatement. After having lunch with Rafael Wednesday she’d gone and gotten a Brazilian wax just in case and stopped by Victoria’s Secret and picked up a new champagne colored lace and fishnet teddy that left her ass bare. Rafael was the sexiest man she had met in years, and he was smart and well educated to boot. Lili’s only hope was that he’d be totally smitten with her before Jack ruined something so maybe, just maybe, he’d be less likely to run when Jack did go crazy.

Her mother got there just before 5, Sami was packed and was in her room coloring. Lili was in the kitchen seasoning some chicken breasts and vegetables to go in the oven and heard the front door open.

“Solnyshko?” _Little sun._ She heard her mother’s voice, even after 40 years in the US she’d never lost her accent, though it was lighter than it was when she and her brothers were children.

“In the kitchen Mama!” Lili called.

Her mother appeared in the doorway with a smile, her blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. “Ah, you are cooking for this new boyfriend?”

Lili giggled, “I don’t know that I can call him my boyfriend yet Mama, but yes I’m cooking.”

Sabina patted her daughter’s cheek, “Good, food is how I got your father into my bed.”

“Mama!!” Lili screeched in shock.

Her mother chuckled and shrugged, “What solnyshko? It is the truth. I knew when I saw him the first time that your father was for me. There is no shame in love, or pleasure.”

“Who said anything about love Mama? I’ve only known Rafael for a few weeks,” Lili told her.

Sabina grinned, “You never cooked for Jack. And your father and I only knew each other 6 weeks before we were married. I lost my virginity to him after a week.”

Now she remembered where her tendency to say what she was thinking came from. Sabina had no filter and had no shame when it came to discussing love or sex. Lili braced her hands on the counter and groaned, “Mama, please. I know you and Daddy are still madly in love but you are my parents. That’s just…ew...”

“Have you kissed this Rafael?” her mother asked.

Lili blushed, “Yes Mama, why?”

“Did your heart skip a beat? Did time stall for a moment?” Sabina asked seriously.

Thinking back she had to say yes, her heart had felt like it stopped when Rafael’s lips first touched hers and she literally felt like she had fireworks going off over skin. Her mother smiled knowingly as Lili relayed her first kiss with Rafael.

“He is your happily ever after. Just like your father is mine. Mark my words solnyshko, you will marry this Rafael,” Sabina told her with some conviction.

Lili gave her mother a wide-eyed look, “Mama, please, let’s not go there yet. I’m not even ready for him to meet you and Daddy or Sami yet, and then there’s Jack.”

“Kozel,” Sabina spat. _Goat_ “That one was a mistake, the only good of him is moy svetik.” _My little light._

“I know Mama. Rafael is a good man, he helps people get justice when they’re hurt. He’s smart and funny, handsome, and so far, he finds my weird quirks adorable,” she relayed with a whimsical smile, thinking of his smile the first time he got her laughing so much she snorted.

“Good solnyshko, good,” Sabina grinned at Lili making Lili roll her eyes.

“Babulya!” _Granny_ Sami exclaimed as she came out of her room and jumped into Sabina’s arms. She smiled over Sami’s head at her daughter and Lili could tell she had made up her mind that there would be a wedding sooner rather than later. Lili just shook her head.

Sabina gathered Sami and her things and left her daughter alone with her cooking and nervous energy. Once she had put the chicken and vegetables into the oven it was already 5:45p.m. and she ran to get into the shower. When she got out she put on her new teddy and looked in her full-length mirror. It was sexy, she couldn’t deny that, but after having Sami her body wasn’t the same. She still had faint stretch marks on her hips and breasts as well as a little roundness to her belly she’d never been able to lose, and she had a few scars that would require some explanation if Rafael asked and she wasn’t ready for that yet. Jack had made her feel so self-conscious about the fact that her body wasn’t the same after having Sami that she worried Rafael wouldn’t find her attractive once she was naked. Sighing she went to her closet and picked out a sleeveless pale lavender floral soft knit dress that came to a few inches above her knees and buttoned up from the waist. She left it unbuttoned to just above where the teddy came to a deep v between her full breasts and opted to forgo jewelry. Her hair would dry to her bouncy light curls bringing her hair to just below her shoulders and she just added a little bit of shimmer to the insides of her eyes and a light pink shimmery lip gloss. When she was home she rarely wore shoes and opted to skip them that night but she’d at least painted her finger and toenails the day before in a pale pink metallic polish. She was as ready as she’d ever be she thought.

By the time Rafael knocked on the door at a few minutes before 7p.m. she was pulling the chicken from the oven and putting it on top of the stove to cool. She flew to the door, straightened herself out, and opened it with a smile to find Rafael standing there in dark jeans and a burgundy polo with a brown jacket and a different, slightly larger, briefcase in one hand and a bouquet of flowers in the other. That slow sexy smile showed up on his lips and she stepped aside to let him in the door then locked and chained it.

“Hello Hermosa,” he said to her and handed her the bouquet of gorgeous multi colored flowers before leaning in to kiss her.

That kiss seared her lips and made her tingle everywhere at once, she just couldn’t figure out how he kept doing that to her but every time he touched her in any way it just left her wanting more. She hoped it wasn’t just sexual tension that would dissipate once they got horizontal. Somehow though she didn’t think that would happen, their chemistry felt like it went beyond just a need for sex. The truth was though she was starting to feel like that was all she could think about with him, and knew she wasn’t going to make it through dinner. After showing Rafael where to put his coat and what she hoped was really an overnight bag rather than an actual briefcase she put the flowers in a vase and set them on the dining room table.

Taking a deep breath she walked to where Rafael stood looking into her living room with his hands in his pockets. He smiled as she put her hands on his chest, smoothing the fabric over his skin, causing him a sharp intake of breath. Standing on her tip toes she leaned in close to him so her lips were near his ear and she felt his arms wrap around her and his hands settle at the small of her back.

“How would you feel if I told you I’d like to have dessert first?” She whispered in what she hoped was a sultry tone.

“What’s for dessert?” He chuckled, allowing his little fingers to run lightly over the sensitive area at the cleft of her butt cheeks.

Pulling back from him slightly she put her arms around his neck and pressed herself into him pleased when she could feel he was as aroused as she was. “You.”

He searched her eyes for a quick second before bringing his hands up to her cheeks and kissing her again, this time with teeth and tongue making her nipples harden with desire. His hands pulled her skirt up so he could grasp her butt cheeks and he lifted her so she could wrap her legs around his waist. Turning toward the hall he started walking as she reached down between them to grasp his erection through his jeans eliciting a groan from him.

“Open door, all the way at the end of the hall,” she said breathily as her other hand made quick work of the buttons on her dress and she maneuvered to pull it over her head and toss it to the floor before he got into her bedroom.

Once there he let her feet drop to the floor and she pulled his shirt over his head. They were both in such a fervor of need they didn’t yet take the time to really look at the skin they were finally revealing to each other’s eyes. She reached between her legs and released the snaps there and unhooked the clasp behind her back before pulling the teddy off and dropping it to the ground. His lips only left her skin long enough for her to get it over her head, and he bent to suck one of her nipples and run his tongue over it making her moan softly. Her hands were on his belt undoing it and unzipping his jeans trying to shed the last barrier to what she really wanted. Once his jeans were kicked off on the floor and she reached down to palm the head of his erection she realized he was quite a bit larger than anticipated or what she was used to. Rafael backed her up to the bed and she fell back onto it, lifting her legs and using her feet to push herself to the head of her bed. She kept her thighs together and her legs dropped to the side as he crawled onto the bed with her and hovered over her before leaning down to pepper kisses over her skin.

“I have condoms in my bag unless you have them in here?” He asked between kisses.

She reached her hand over and opened her nightstand drawer, pulling one out, and opening the packet. Her fingers pushed against his stomach making him sit back on his knees slightly as he watched her roll the condom down over his erection before she dropped back to the bed and brought one leg to the other side of his hips opening herself up to him. Now they were nearing the point of no return and things slowed down just a little. He leaned down over her, bracing himself up on his elbows at either side of her, and her hands reached up to grasp his shoulders.

He looked right into her eyes, “Are you sure this is what you want?”

“I’ve never been more sure Rafael. I want you, need you, inside of me. Please,” she practically begged him, she had never been so wet with desire in her life.

Dropping himself so they were touching from chest to hip but his weight wasn’t completely on her, she felt him rock his hips just slightly and he slid inside of her making her throw her head back and arch her back as a moan escaped her. She could feel every single inch of him and the feeling of fullness was more erotic than she ever thought possible.

“Dios mio Lili, you keep moaning like that and this won’t last long,” he told her as she felt his lips at the hollow of her throat.

She couldn’t help the giggle that escaped, “We’ve got all night to do this again.”

And with that he started rocking his hips in a slow steady rhythm, but when she brought her legs up to wrap around his waist the friction of his movement on her clit made her moan again louder. She could feel heat and electricity all centered where they were joined and little fireworks were exploding behind her eyes.

He was saying something in Spanish she couldn’t understand and his thrusts were increasing in speed. Her back arched and she locked her legs which started to shake around him and before she knew it the fireworks were really going off in her head. She was moaning his name really loud this time, and she could feel herself clamping down around him making him falter and groan out her name as he came with her.

The both lay there for a few minutes while their breathing slowed before Rafael moved off of her to stand up and discard the condom in the bathroom. When he came back he had a warm washcloth which he used to gently clean her up then he leaned over her and kissed her tenderly. Her heart melted with that kiss and she knew somehow that her mother just might be right.

**Rafael**

He woke to the distant sounds of someone pounding on a door and thought maybe it was Liv at his front door, but when he opened his eyes he remembered he was in Lili's bed with her. His back was to the bedroom door and his hand splayed over her stomach which was covered only by the sheet on her bed. She'd fallen asleep naked in his arms after the second time they'd had sex, then woken him up a few hours later for round three. Looking across her to the nightstand he saw it was 2:30a.m. The pounding sounded again this time followed by Lili's name in a loud male voice and Lili sat straight up under Rafael's arm making the sheet fall away from her bare chest.

She rubbed her eyes and started cursing under her breath, then looked at Rafael. "I'm sorry, that's Jack. He must be drunk or high. Or both."

"It's not your fault carino," he said and swung his legs out of the bed to pull the running shorts he had brought with him on as well as his t-shirt.

Lili looked at him, "You don't need to get up Rafael." She stood from the bed letting the sheet slip away from her naked body, the shyness she'd exhibited earlier, after the first time they’d had sex, gone with his assurances that he found her body intoxicating.

He narrowed his eyes slightly at her as he watched her quickly pull clothes out of a drawer in her dresser. "Has he ever been violent?"

Her back was to him and when she hesitated just slightly he had his answer without her words. "Well, yeah," she said and looked back at him over her shoulder as she pulled on a pair of loose blue pants and a light blue t-shirt over the sports bra she'd already pulled on.

"Then I absolutely need to get up," he told her seriously.

She narrowed an eye and looked at him as they walked to the living room.

He wasn't Arnold Schwarzenegger but he was fit and Eddie had taught him a long time ago how to take care of himself. After the Alex fiasco he started spending more time with Eddie again and Eddie got Rafael to start working out with him like they did before life got in the way. Lili didn't know any of that and likely thought being a lawyer his only means of defense were his words. That was his preference but he could deflect a punch if he needed to as well, he wasn't quite as fragile as people thought him to be. Lili looked back at him and he stood in the hallway arch with his arms folded across his chest as she went to the front door and looked through the peephole. She butted her head on the door lightly once she confirmed who it was.

"Jack! Go away, it's almost 3 o'clock in the morning," she called through the door.

"Open the fucking door Lili! I want to see Samantha," his words were slurred so she was definitely right about him being drunk or high.

She opened the door with the chain on it and stood out of the way of his reach, "Jack, you know this isn't your weekend. Sami is with my mom and dad."

"I should be able to see her whenever I want to," he slurred and reached his hand in the crack of the door to try to grab Lili.

"No Jack, you ruined that. You know you get the 2nd and 4th weekend of every month and every Wednesday. Do you need another copy of the court order?" She asked, backing away from his reach again, and Rafael moved closer to her.

"No dammit, I just want to see my daughter," he snapped and tried pushing on the door.

Rafael looked at Lili and could see she was frustrated, and it was evident in her voice when she spoke.

"Jack, you know this is my parents weekend. Remember, thanks to you I have to share custody with them," she snapped back, and tried to push the door closed. "Besides, it's 3 in the morning. You can't just come over here at crazy hours demanding to see her."

He was quiet for a minute and Lili was able to get the door closed but then he started pounding and yelling again. At that point Rafael moved forward and pushed Lili behind him before undoing the chain and opening the door. Jack stood there with his fists up to beat on the door again but dropped them once he realized it had opened, he was tall and skinny and looked strung out.

"Lili's already told you that your daughter is with her parents. If you want to talk to her why don't you come back later in the day when you're sober," Rafael said, he could feel Lili's hand on his waist by the door where she stood behind him.

"Who are you?" The man in front of him asked, the smell of alcohol readily apparent as he spoke and it was pretty evident he was high on something as well. Jack was wobbling on his feet in front of them and Rafael was a little concerned he might pass out in the hallway.

"I'm her boyfriend," Rafael said putting his hand on top of hers at his waist. "Now go home before I call the police and have you arrested for public intoxication."

Jack suddenly reared back and threw his fist at Rafael who simply caught it in his right hand, twisted, and had Jack down on his knees in a few seconds.

"I'm going to say this one more time. Go home. Come back when you're sober if you want to talk to Lili," Rafael told him, pushed his arm back toward him, and closed the door locking the deadbolt and putting the chain back in place. He stood at the door watching out of the peephole until Jack disappeared out of view and it was quiet before he turned around to Lili who had a dumbfounded expression on her face.

"How did you do that?" She asked looking him up and down.

He shrugged, "Jack didn't have anything behind that punch, if he'd been sober it wouldn't have been that easy." She was still looking at him with a slightly bemused gaze and he sighed. "I was bullied in school as a kid. A lot. I had a mouth and it got me in trouble. I had two best friends growing up, one, Eddie, always stood up for me. He'd tell the bullies anyone that hurt me would have to deal with him, he's a boxer. As we got older he taught me how to take care of myself, and he still drags me out for workouts with him." He didn't mention his father or the bullying at home which was the reason Eddie taught him how to punch and deflect a punch in the first place.

"Wow," was all she said and she was smiling now. He always wondered what it was about women that made their hormones go crazy when they found out a man had the ability to defend them physically even if it wasn't the man's preference.

"Come on, let's go back to bed," he told her, grabbing her hand and pulling her along behind him.

When they got to her bedroom she looked over at him from across the bed and smiled as she shimmied her pants off, she hadn't put panties on when she dressed earlier. "Round four?"

Rafael chuckled and watched as she pulled her t-shirt then sports bra over her head, wiggling as she did. "Absolutely."


	6. Motherly Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucia and Lili meet by accident and Rafael and Lili have breakfast with his mother, and Rafael meets Sami.

Lili was beyond happy when Rafael didn’t end things right then after the crazy early morning encounter with Jack. The fact that he had told Jack he was her boyfriend and reaffirmed that sentiment to Lili when they woke later that morning made her heart soar. After that she and Rafael fell into a pleasant routine, on the nights that Sami was with Lili’s parents he would stay at her apartment or her at his, it hadn’t taken long for them to exchange apartment keys. They would meet for lunch during his breaks from court during the week and on the nights Sami was with Lili they would talk on the phone like they did before they finally managed that second date in his office. That next weekend was Lili’s with Sami and she had already planned some mommy daughter activities so she and Rafael texted during the day and talked at night for the two days they couldn’t see each other. While Lili was extremely fond of Rafael it had only been a month and she just wasn’t quite yet ready for him to meet Sami. Not that she thought he and Sami would have any issues, her daughter was a charmer, and smart beyond her limited years. The child preferred reading, coloring books, and building blocks to dolls, dress up, or pretend, so Lili knew Sami would find something to bond with Rafael over. Lili’s worry was that her tenuous relationship with her father might cause Sami to latch onto Rafael as a replacement, she was already too attached to her grandfather. Though she was considering a lunch meeting in the park by Rafael’s office soon.

Jack didn’t come back after he showed up that night nor did he even call that next Wednesday when he was supposed to have Sami, even to say that he wasn’t picking her up. And he didn’t show up or call that next weekend which was supposed to be his. Poor Sami knew when it was her father’s visitation time, and had stopped getting her hopes up which just broke Lili’s heart more than anything else Jack had done. While she would never want to completely cut Jack out of Sami’s life she had to wonder at what point was enough considered enough in the eyes of the court? Jack had nearly destroyed their lives because of his addictions and put Sami in harm’s way more than once. What baffled Lili more than anything was that while the Family Court Judge deemed it in Sami’s best interest that Jack have continued visitation it was because of him that they also required Lili to share custody with her parents. They weren’t due back in court to review custody for another six months and while Lili certainly had no issue with shared custody in principle, on paper it was an insult that she was still labeled a risk to her child when she’d done nothing wrong. Maybe, just maybe, at some point she might discuss it with Rafael. While he wasn’t a family law expert he was sure to know someone that was who would do better than the idiot she’d found when she was trying to get back custody of Sami so they could live on their own again. She loved her parents, it wasn’t that they interfered in any way, but this was her life and she wanted the freedom to live it and raise her child on her own.

It was closing in on the fifth week that she and Rafael had been dating, and her mother was keen to remind Lili that it was only after six weeks of knowing each other that she and Lili’s father married. Lili promised her mother she would talk to Rafael about meeting them sometime soon but she wanted him and Sami to meet first. She hadn’t quite been ready for that, but knowing her mother if she didn’t get it moving along Sabina would do it herself. Rafael had called her just thirty minutes prior to let her know that he had a two-hour break from trial for lunch and asked if she wanted to come to his office. Just having been leaving her publisher when she got his call she readily accepted, stopping to pick up sandwiches and drinks on her walk over. When she got to his office his assistant, Carmen she knew by now, smiled at her and waved her into Rafael’s open door.

He was sitting behind his desk on his cell phone and looked frustrated but smiled and reached his hand out to her when she walked in and dropped the bag with their lunch on the coffee table. She walked over to him at his desk and leaned down to kiss his lips as he moved the phone away from his mouth but still listened to the person on the other end. Lili went to move away from his desk so he could finish his call but he reached his other hand out to her opposite hip to keep her in place. Rafael was handsome as always, his face was smooth and hair neat as it always was when he was at work. He had on a white dress shirt with its sleeves rolled up, a bronze colored tie with little daisy like stars embroidered on it, and a brown plaid vest and pants. Her fingers were itching to loosen his tie and relieve him of his vest so she could muss him up a little. She’d pleasantly discovered that he wasn’t anal retentive over neatness when it came to shedding him of the components of his suit when he came to her place right after leaving the office. And he’d been obviously turned on when she’d snuck one of his ties out of his apartment one evening and he came to her apartment the next to open the door and find her perched on the counter wearing only said tie and a pair of platform heels. Fortunately, her fear that the chemistry between them would dissipate once they had sex had been baseless, they were fascinated with everything about each other. The sex just got better the closer they got and Lili recognized it was because they had a deeper emotional connection that enhanced their intimacy.

Lili shook herself out of her thoughts and noted Rafael was smirking at her as he continued his conversation.

“Liv, find me something, a paper trail, anything that proves extortion…Yeah, okay. I’ve got time at 3, come to my office then,” he said into the phone and rolled his eyes. “Bye Liv, bye.”

Ending the call and setting the phone on his desk he pulled Lili into his lap and she wiggled her ass on his thighs as she leaned in to give him a proper spine tingling kiss. “Mmmm Rafael, do I have competition for your affections?” She grinned on his lips and looked in his eyes.

“Well now I know why my son hasn’t called me in a week and a half,” Lili heard behind them, and Rafael closed his eyes and groaned.

Lili sat up in his lap and looked to the door at an older woman with short dark hair and eyes, looking at Rafael she could definitely see a resemblance. Carmen was standing a few feet behind her looking chagrinned and giving a slight shrug of her shoulders before returning to her desk.

“Hi Mami, what brings you into my office?” Rafael said to the woman before leaning into Lili’s ear. “She’s going to ask you if you want to marry me and have my babies. I’m sorry ahead of time.”

Smiling at Rafael’s obvious discomfort Lili turned her eyes to his mother.

“I thought I’d try to have lunch with my son who has apparently forgotten his mother but I see you have a lunch date,” she said and smiled Lili’s way.

“Mami this is Lili Connolly, my girlfriend,” he said, emphasizing their relationship. “Lili, this is my mother Lucia Barba.”

Lili stood and held her hand out to Lucia, “It’s a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Barba.”

Lucia smiled and took Lili’s hand giving her a head to toe once over, “Please, Mrs. Barba was my mother-in-law, call me Lucia. So Lili, you know my son isn’t getting any younger. Are you looking for a husband and father for babies?”

“Mami! I…” Rafael exclaimed behind Lili and she held a hand out to stop him with a smile and a wink. He looked skeptical but sat back in his chair.

Turning back to Lucia she smiled, “Well honestly Lucia, Rafael and I eloped last weekend because I’m pregnant with his baby. We were just talking about having breakfast with you Saturday to break the news.”

With narrowed eyes Lucia looked at her son who had scrubbed his hands over his face and left them there, “I like her Rafi, you need to keep her.”

He chuckled and glanced from Lili to his mother, “I plan to as long as you don’t scare her away.”

She couldn’t help it, Lili started laughing and when Rafael and his mother gave her a questioning look she snorted and her hands flew up to cover her mouth. “I’m sorry, my mother and I have been having that same discussion.”

With that Lucia smiled widely, “Well, it sounds like your mother and I are of the same mind. I’ll let you two have your lunch. But since you mentioned breakfast Saturday I will expect you both at my house at 8a.m. Especially since you missed breakfast last weekend mijo.” She gave Rafael a pointed look.

“I know Mami, I’m sorry,” he stood from behind his desk and walked around to his mother, kissing her cheek and giving her a hug.

Lucia patted Rafael’s cheek and with a glance to Lili and a smile said, “It’s okay mijo, you had to get married after all.”

He turned to look at Lili who was trying very hard to control her laughter and made a mock gesture of annoyance, “You just had to make that joke didn’t you? Now she’ll never let it go.”

“Bye Rafi, lovely to meet you Lili,” and with that Lucia left his office after waving goodbye to Carmen.

After asking Carmen to hold his calls he closed the door and looked at his watch, “Well now I have 45 minutes before I have to head back to the courthouse.”

Lili smiled and thought about the new black lace corset she’d just purchased that was sitting in her drawer at home waiting for the perfect opportunity, “Don’t worry Rafael, I’ll make it up to you tonight.”

He gave her a hungry knowing up and down look and they moved to the couch to sit down and eat their lunch.

**Rafael**

Lili had spent the night at Rafael’s apartment that Friday night so they could get up together and go to his mother’s apartment for breakfast that Saturday morning. Where Rafael was nervous as hell Lili seemed unaffected, and told him that her mother was the same maybe worse at times. He was pleasantly surprised though when he realized Lili and Lucia got along extremely well, not only did they have Rafael in common but they were both technically educators. Lucia was highly intrigued when Lili revealed she wrote literature textbooks and amused when she found out about the romance novels. Her recent contract with her publisher didn’t come up and Rafael didn’t bring it up either, he appreciated that Lili was open but not boastful. When the subject of Sami came up Lili brightened immensely as she talked about her daughter and Lucia gave her son a knowing look, he just shook his head. He hadn’t yet met the little girl but was looking forward to meeting her soon. As they were leaving Lucia gave Lili a warm hug and kissed her cheek before turning to Rafael with a smile.

“Ella es perfecta para ti, Rafi. Date prisa y casate con ella.” _She’s perfect for you Rafi. Hurry up and marry her._ Lucia told her son as she kissed his cheek and hugged him.

He rolled his eyes and chuckled at her, “Mami, pare, me gusta mucho este. No la asustes por mi.” _Mom, stop it, I really like this one. Don’t scare her away for me._

Lucia just smiled as they left her apartment hand in hand. Lili was grinning like a fool as they walked down the stairwell and out onto the street to Rafael’s car that he rarely drove.

He opened the door for her and gave her an amused look as he really noticed her expression, “What cariño?”

Lili turned to him and put her arms around his neck before giving him a slow sensual kiss, “I think your mother likes me.”

“I think that’s the understatement of the century. If she had her way we’d be getting married and having babies right this second,” he told her, bracing himself for her reaction. It was too soon to even think about that, but she was the first woman he could honestly say he would consider that with and it would be nice to know it was on the table for the future.

Throwing her head back she laughed, “Oh Rafael, she and my parents will get along famously. My mother continues to remind me that she and my dad got married after only six weeks of knowing each other.” She gave him a more serious look then, “If we were to be honest right here right now and it were just you and me I wouldn’t say no if you asked but we have so many more things to consider. But, it’s not such a scary thought for the future though is it?”

He happily hummed against her lips as kissed her again and his hand ran down her back to skim over her ass, noting as he did that a panty line was missing yet again, “No, it’s not at all. But I want to meet Sami and make sure she’s good with us before we ever even think about something like that.”

Something changed in her expression then, he could see her eyes start to water and if he were to guess he thought those words melted her heart.

“I…uh…I’d been reluctant to have you meet Sami yet. Jack is so…” Her eyes rose skyward and she shook her head in annoyance, “Such a jerk. I’ve never wanted to introduce her to a man I dated until now and I’m afraid Sami might latch onto you as a replacement. I don’t want to scare you away but…”

Rafael cupped her face in his hands, “Hermosa, I may not have much experience with children but your little girl is not going to scare me away. Regardless of if she latches on to me or not, you’re a package deal remember? I knew that on our first date. And I surmised from what little you told me of Jack and my one encounter with him that he’s not exactly a little girl’s best role model.”

Lili rolled her eyes and shook her head as she snickered and held onto his wrists, “No, no he’s definitely not. There are some things we need to talk about, things you need to know about him, our past, and our custody and visitation agreement, but we can save that for another day. For now, why don’t you drive us back to your place?” She winked at him and wiggled in his arms making him groan and drop his forehead to her shoulder.

That wiggle of hers drove him crazy and either she didn’t know and did it unconsciously or she did and wiggled purposely to turn him on. “That sounds like a plan, now get in the car Hermosa.” She grinned at him and patted his cheek before ducking into the passenger seat and he closed the door behind her.

When he got behind the wheel and put his seatbelt on she looked over at him making him hesitate before starting the car, “Sami gets out of school all next week at 11a.m. How about we meet you in the park near your office one of the days that I have her on your lunch break? I can make some chicken salad sandwiches and cut up some fruit for a lunch.”

He really liked that idea and put his hand over hers on her thigh giving it a squeeze to emphasize his words, “That sounds like a date.”

“Awesome sauce,” she said making him laugh at her silliness.

Rafael started the car and pulled away from the curb and drove them back to his apartment where they spent a few hours working off the decadent breakfast Lucia had made for them.

Tuesday the following week Lili texted him to find out if it was a good day for her and Sami to meet him in Columbus park. It happened to be a really good day since he was done with arraignments by 10 and didn’t have to be back in court until 2 for voir dire on a case. He responded that it was a perfect day and to text him when they got there so he could walk over. At 11:30a.m. he got her text.

_Lili: We’re in the park, on the children’s’ playground. I’m on the bench next to the slide. Sami found herself a new friend to play with. I swear that child could make a friend out of an angry polar bear._

That made Rafael laugh and worry at the same time. He hadn’t considered how the things he saw on an everyday basis had jaded him. Lili was a good mother, he knew that, but he worried that a child as friendly as Lili indicated Sami was could be at risk. And now he was catastrophizing. Geesh, he wondered if this is what Liv and Amanda did every time they took Noah and Jesse to a park or left them with their nannies. Shaking his head he let Carmen know where he was going and shrugged his suit jacket on. It was early April and the temperature was 62 degrees. Just pleasant enough that he, Lili, and Sami could enjoy lunch in a park outside for an hour without being uncomfortable.

He texted Lili that he was on his way and walked the short distance to the park. When he got there he looked for the slide and once he found it saw Lili sitting on the bench next to it. She was wearing a pair of dark skinny jeans and a navy shirt with white polka dots that v’d to just above her cleavage and tied at her elbows. Her hair was in the natural soft curls that framed her face perfectly and he noted she wasn’t wearing any makeup, which was his preference. She had no need of any enhancement, though what little she wore at times only served to enhance her natural beauty rather than mar it. When her eyes found him she smiled widely and waved, standing up and taking the last few steps to him as he approached. He hugged her and gave her a quick kiss, absolutely sure that blatant PDAs were not appropriate in a children’s playground the first time he was meeting his girlfriend’s six-year-old.

She grinned at him, “Are you nervous?”

Waggling his hand he chuckled, “A little.”

Suddenly a curly haired little blonde girl in jeans, a pink long sleeved shirt, and tennis shoes that lit up ran up to them, “Are you Mr. Rafael?”

He felt his lip quirk up in an amused smile at her perfect pronunciation of his name, something Eddie’s son, Danny, at 7 now, had not mastered. “Yes Chiquita, I am. You can just call me Rafi if you like.”

She raised her arms up to him and he looked to Lili who was watching them with her arms crossed over her chest and a smile playing on her lips. Lili nodded at him and he heard the little girl, Sami, clear her throat. When he looked down at her she was grinning up at him.

“Just in case you don’t know, this…” the little thing gestured with her arms making an upward motion, “Means pick me up.”

Lili snorted and had turned away from them and was laughing as Rafael reached down and picked the little girl up. Once he had her settled on his left hip she held her right hand out to him, “I’m Samantha. You can call me Sami. And I’m not a banana.”

He took her little hand in his and had to choke back a chuckle, “Chiquita means little one in Spanish.”

Sami put her little finger to her lips and made show of thinking about the nickname before looking to her mother and then back to Rafael, “Okay, you can call me Chiquita if you want to.”

“Okay, Chiquita,” he returned, he knew his expression must be somewhere between amused and shell shocked.

She patted his chest, “It’s okay if you don’t know much about kids. I’ll teach you.”

He dropped his chin to his chest and felt himself smile even more at her words if that were possible, “I’d like that.”

“Good. My mommy likes you. A lot, so you have to stick around and be nice to her. Okay?” Sami was tracing the paisley designs on his tie and looked over at her mother with a slick smile.

“Well Chiquita, I plan to if you’re okay with that,” he said and looked at Lili who was trying very hard to hold back happy tears.

“Yes, but now you have to get her chocolate,” she said pointing over at Lili who started laughing again.

“No baby, I’m fine. These are happy tears, Mommy isn’t sad,” Lili told her and motioned to the bench with a huge smile. “Come on, let’s sit down and eat. We don’t want to keep Rafael away from work for too long.”

Rafael set Sami down on her feet and she hopped up on the bench and looked at Lili, swinging her little legs under her, “He said I can call him Rafi, is that okay Mommy?”

“Yes baby, if Rafael said it’s okay with him, then it’s fine with me,” Lili told her as she sat down to Sami’s right and pulled a small container from the bag at her feet that she opened to reveal a small sandwich and some cut up fruit which she handed Sami who smiled up at her mother and started to eat.

Lili pulled another larger container from the bag which she opened and passed to Rafael before fishing two water bottles from the bag and opened one which she put next to Sami then handed Rafael the other. Rafael took careful note of the fact that she did all of this, made sure that he and Sami were squared away, before she finally pulled a third container out of the bag and opened it for herself. As she stuck a slice of kiwi in her mouth she reached over to lay a hand on Rafael’s shoulder and mouthed ‘Thank you’ at him. He smiled at her and turned his head so he could kiss her hand. Looking between Sami and Lili as they ate and talked about what Sami was doing in school he realized he could get used to this very quickly.


	7. No Shame In Pleasure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rafael is called into Cutter's office and Lili to Rafael's where she meets Amanda and Liv.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is my version of ‘Know It All.’ I’ve changed the circumstances of the blackmail against Rafael to go with my storyline. The POV is reversed here too, Rafael’s is first then Lili’s.

**Rafael**

It was a week after Rafael first met Sami and he was in his office reviewing the case file on David Willard when Carmen knocked on his door and stepped into his office.

"Mr. Barba?" She had a concerned look on her face, and he dropped his pen on the tablet he'd been writing on.

"Yes? What's wrong?" He asked, worry lacing his tone, Carmen didn't typically interrupt when he asked her to hold his calls unless there was a problem.

"Mr. Cutter called, he needs to see you in his office," she told him.

Rafael gave her a puzzled look, the Special Victims ADA Bureau Chief wouldn't be calling him to his office if it wasn't important. "Okay, thanks Carmen." He got up from his desk and put his suit jacket back on then headed upstairs to Cutter's office wondering what the hell was going on.

After a 15-minute wait for Cutter to finish the impromptu meeting he was in with another ADA he called Rafael in and pointed to the table in the middle of his office where his laptop sat. Rafael sat down at the table and drummed his fingers on it while Cutter told his assistant he was not to be disturbed under any circumstances then closed his door.

Cutter took a deep breath as he looked at Rafael, "There's something I need you to see."

Walking to the table he turned the laptop to face Rafael, woke it up, and hit the play button to a video whose sound was muted. Rafael watched the video which showed Lili straddling him on her bed with her head thrown back and her arms straight out in front of her so her fingers touched his chest. Though Rafael wasn't visible enough to be recognized it was his hands on her hips and his legs bent at the knees behind her. It was obvious what they were doing. Fortunately, the part of the video they were watching was before Lili had shed her black lace corset so her breasts were covered and despite seeing movement you couldn't see any other intimate details. But the fact remained someone had filmed them having sex and somehow Cutter had it. Closing the lid of Cutter's laptop he tapped it with his right index finger, the timer on the video showed it went on for almost another twenty minutes and was only a minute and a half in.

"How much of this did you watch?" Rafael asked his Bureau Chief, he was trying hard to control his temper but he knew what those next twenty minutes would show. And while he didn't care as much about himself being exposed he did care about Lili being exposed and watched in an intimate moment that wasn't meant for other eyes.

Cutter pursed his lips and met Rafael's eyes, "Just enough to know that the man she's with is you. Who is she Barba? This video came to me in an email accusing you of engaging in sexual activity with a prostitute. The DA's office has been down this road before, we don’t need this again."

"She's my girlfriend, not a prostitute Cutter," he said in an angry tone.

"Okay, so...any idea who would possibly have it out for you enough to go to the trouble of getting a video of you having sex with your girlfriend then use it to accuse you of being with a prostitute?" Cutter asked and sat down at the table across from him.

“David Williard, the suspect in the current case SVU is investigating. He’s already made threats against their rope expert that caused him to alter his report so his testimony is tainted. Willard called me yesterday when I was going to get that warrant for Liv,” Rafael relayed.

Cutter nodded, “What did he say?”

“Recuse myself or he’d make sure I regretted it.” Rafael smacked his hand down on the table and stood up. “Maldito hijo de puta!” _God damn motherfucker._

“Was that your apartment or hers?” Cutter asked calmly.

“Hers,” Rafael was pacing and scrubbing his hands over his face trying to figure out how he was going to discuss this with Lili.

“Okay,” Cutter drew the word out waiting for Rafael to stop pacing and look at him. “Sit down Barba.”

Rafael did as he was told and rubbed his hand over his eyes as he sat back in the chair, “Her name is Lili.”

“Could she have video’d you having sex and given it to Willard?” Cutter was sitting back in his chair and had his arms crossed over his chest.

“No, not a chance,” Rafael answered immediately.

“How long have you been dating?” The tone was skeptical now.

Rafael didn’t like where his line of questioning was headed, “Just about six weeks. Why?”

Cutter sighed heavily and looked at the ceiling, “Are you absolutely sure it wasn’t her? The relationship is fairly new, you don’t know her all that well.”

Slamming his balled fist down on the table again he gave Cutter an even look and tried to bring his temper under control, “Dammit Cutter, I’m as sure of it as you are that Connie wouldn’t do the same damn thing to you.”

His Bureau Chief held his hands out in front of him in a gesture of surrender, “Okay, okay. Does anyone else have access to her apartment?”

Rafael shook his head as he thought, “Her parents, they both have keys. They help her care for her daughter. It wouldn’t be either of them. Her father is a Captain with Queens Homicide.” He groaned and dropped his face into his hands, “She has a crazy ex-boyfriend though. Her daughter’s father. He’s an alcoholic and drug addict. I met him really early in the morning a few weeks ago when I was at her apartment. He woke us up banging on the door screaming Lili’s name.”

Cutter raised an eyebrow and his lips spread in a thin line, “Did you talk to him?”

“Yes, I told him to come back later in the day when he was sober. He tried to hit me,” Rafael relayed.

“Did you report the assault?” Cutter asked and stood to get a legal pad and pen from his desk.

“I said tried Cutter. He was drunk and high, I stopped him and he left. But from what Lili’s said he hasn’t exercised his visitation since, and he hasn’t called to talk to his daughter. She said normally when he misses visitation he will call after a few days to apologize and talk to Sami,” Rafael was tapping on the table again as Cutter sat back down and started writing. “She actually said the other day that she thought he was on a bender, because that’s the only time he completely disappears like this.”

“If it turns out Willard did send this video I have to take you off the case, but in the meantime, have SVU investigate who sent the email and how it was obtained. And talk to your girlfriend, see if her ex could have been the voyeur in her bedroom,” Cutter instructed with a pointed look at Rafael. “Keep me posted on anything you find out.”

“Okay,” Rafael stood up and left Cutters office and headed back downstairs to his own.

When he got there he asked Carmen to hold his calls. He closed his office door and sat down at his desk with his laptop in front of him and opened the email Cutter forwarded him. While he was in Cutter’s office he didn’t want to watch the whole thing, didn’t want Cutter seeing any more of Lili than he had. But before he got SVU involved he needed to see what they would so he could be cognizant of who was seeing what. Rafael could admit he was feeling protective and possessive of Lili, he sure as hell didn’t want another man seeing his girlfriend naked and in a vulnerable intimate state. The video wasn’t quite what he anticipated, he knew there were obvious edits since he was there. Most of the video showed Lili, there was enough of him for it to be obvious that he was the man with Lili but it felt like something aimed more at embarrassing Lili rather than to force him off Willard’s case.

He had to get SVU involved, with Willard’s threat the day before, and the nature of the video it fell within their investigative purview. Picking up his phone he dialed Liv’s contact.

“Liv, I need you to come to my office. It’s on Willard…Yes it’s urgent…Thanks…” Rubbing his fingers over his temples again he could feel a migraine coming on.

Getting up he went to his door and opened it to find Carmen typing away at her computer. She looked up and her brow furrowed at his expression, “Everything okay?”

“Could you get me some coffee?” He asked her.

“Sure,” she tilted her head as she stood. “Some ibuprofen too?”

“If you could, I’d really appreciate it,” he told her and handed her a twenty from his wallet.

“Of course, Mr. Barba, I’ll be back,” she said and grabbed her purse before walking out of the office.

Rafael went back into his office and sat down behind his desk before pulling his phone out again and sending a text to Lili.

_I need you to come to my office as soon as you can get here. It’s important._

He picked up his pen and tapped on his desk while he waited for Lili to respond and for Liv to get there. His phone pinged and he flipped it over.

_Lili: Okay, give me 30 minutes. I have to call my mother to pick Sami up from school. Are you okay?_

_I’m fine cariño. We have a problem we need to deal with. I suspect it might involve Jack._

His phone was silent longer than he liked before it pinged again.

_Lili: Why am I not surprised? That man has been the bane of my existence since the day I met him._

Rafael sighed and leaned his head back on his chair while he waited. He really hoped that Lili wouldn’t blame him for this.

**Lili**

After getting Rafael’s text Lili called her mother and asked her to get Sami from school. Sabina readily agreed but made Lili promise to bring Rafael over that weekend for dinner on Saturday night. It was supposed to be Jack’s weekend with Sami and she hoped he would actually make the effort to pick Sami up. If not then Sami could stay with Lili for the weekend and they would all have dinner. Once she got off the phone she grabbed her purse and headed out to grab a cab to Rafael’s office. When she got there she found Carmen behind her desk and Rafael’s door closed. Carmen got up and knocked on the door lightly before opening it and announcing Lili was there. When Carmen stood aside and she walked into Rafael’s office she found him sitting behind his desk leaning back in his chair, right ankle up on his left knee which was bouncing, right elbow on the desk and left hand braced on the arm of his chair. He looked tense. There were two women sitting in the chairs in front of his desk. One was the tall brunette she remembered seeing with him with in Forlini’s, she believed her name was Liv, the other woman was a petite blonde she’d never seen before.

Lili put her hands on her hips and looked at the three of them. The tension in the room could be cut with a knife.

“Okay, is Jack dead?” That was all she could come up with for why the three of them looked so solemn.

Rafael stood up and walked over to her, lifting a hand and placing it on her cheek and giving her a tender kiss. “No cariño, that’s not what this is about.” He turned to the two women and motioned his hand to the brunette then the blonde, “This is Lieutenant Olivia Benson and Detective Amanda Rollins. Liv, Rollins, this is my girlfriend, Lili Connolly.”

The women stood and shook Lili’s hand before Rafael motioned to a chair at the table to the side of his office where his laptop sat. She walked over and sat down and looked up to him as Liv and Amanda sat at the chairs on the other side of the table.

“I need you to watch something. This was sent to my Bureau Chief early this morning,” Rafael told her and leaned over her to click the play button on his laptop.

He looked tense and worried as the video came up. When she saw it her eyes narrowed and she moved closer to the screen.

“Bozhe moi!” She exclaimed, it was her and Rafael having sex the evening after she met his mother. Pointing at the laptop she looked up at Rafael, “I think I know what happens. Turn it off.”

“Okay cariño,” he paused the video and closed the lid. The screen was frozen just as he was sitting up and putting his arms around her, that was just before he flipped her onto her back.

Lili narrowed her eyes and looked at Rafael, “So I know you didn’t film this, you won’t even let me send you racy pictures.” The blonde snickered at that and Lili shrugged. “It’s true, he’s such a worry wart.”

Rafael was rolling his eyes and looking decidedly uncomfortable.

“The thing is Lili, we think someone who had access to your apartment and knows the layout may have gone in there when you weren’t home and placed a camera in your bedroom to get this film,” Liv told her gesturing with her hands as she talked.

Lili was shaking her head, “The only people with a key are me, my parents, and Rafael.” She paused for a second and looked up at Rafael, “What aren’t you telling me?”

He shook his head, “They have to take the video to their tech team to figure out where it came from. However, a man currently under investigation for rape called me yesterday to tell me to recuse myself or I’d regret it, and Cutter got this email this morning. We think it came from him and that he got it from Jack.”

Lili’s eyes were wide and her mouth formed an O before she rolled her eyes and started shaking her head. She started swearing in Russian and stood up to pace the office. Rafael, Liv, and Amanda waited her out until she calmed and sat back down. Taking a deep breath she looked at Rafael, “So what makes you think Jack is involved.”

“Nothing specific, not yet. He’s a logical suspect, and you mentioned after I chased him off that night he came wanting to see Sami that he hasn’t exercised his visitation or called Sami.” He explained.

“True, and something I didn’t have a reason to tell you until now, but he was a computer science major in college,” Lili told him, realizing how significant that was in this particular circumstance.

He nodded and looked to Liv and Amanda, “Have TARU figure out where the email came from, check Lili’s apartment, see if they can find out what was used to film the video. And pick up Jack…” Looking to Lili he held a hand out for her to give them some more personal details for him.

“Garrett, give me your legal pad and I can give you his address and all the personal details I know,” she said and held a hand out when Rafael grabbed the pad and his pen from his desk to hand to her.

She wrote everything down, including her address, ripped off the page, and handed the paper to Liv.

“Thanks Lili. Don’t worry, we’ll figure this out,” Liv reassured her.

The two women left the office and Lili turned to look up at Rafael who was standing between her and his desk with his arms crossed over his chest.

“I’m sorry Rafael,” she said shaking her head.

“You have nothing to be sorry for, I think I’m the one who should be apologizing. This may have happened because of me,” he said, and she could see a flash of anger cross his face. “I’m surprised you’re not more…”

“What? Hysterical?” Lili gave him an incredulous look. “Why? Am I happy that someone filmed us having sex? Of course not. I really don’t want it all over the internet, or people seeing me naked or seeing my orgasm face. That’s reserved for you alone. I don’t want other women seeing you naked or seeing just how damn good you are in bed either.” Rafael choked on the coffee he was drinking, and she just rolled her eyes at him with a snort. “But the reality is it’s been done, there’s nothing I can do about it now. All I can hope for is that once your team figures out where it came from that it hasn’t been posted on the internet for everyone to see and we can destroy any copies of it. If it is on the internet already, well, then as my mother would say there is no shame in love or pleasure.”

Rafael was looking at her with a dumbfounded look.

“What’s wrong Rafael? Does this embarrass you?” She asked him with a raised brow and waved at the laptop.

“No, not at all. I’m not happy about it for the same reasons you just laid out. And I admit I’m feeling a little possessive of you, not wanting other men to see you naked either,” he told her with a shrug. “I was just honestly afraid you might blame me for letting this happen, or be angry at me.”

Lili stood up and looped her arms around his neck and she felt his arms settle around her waist, “No matter what your male pride or buried caveman tendencies may tell you I am not fragile and don’t need you to protect me from every little thing out there. I love you for the fact that you want to and appreciate that your job exposes you to some of the worst sides of human nature but I’m not the kind of woman that lives in fear of what might happen. I don’t worry about the things I can’t do anything about. I can only control me.”

Rafael looked impressed and lifted a hand to run his thumb over her bottom lip, “Love huh?”

She gave him a coy look and stuck her tongue to lick the tip of his thumb making him suck in a breath, “Perhaps.”

He nodded and kissed her then, a sweet tender kiss that told her he felt the same about her and left her tingling as he always did. When he spoke, his voice was a little deeper than normal, “I’m in love with you too Hermosa.”

Lili giggled, she wasn’t surprised at all but wasn’t quite ready to get into discussions of love right then, “I know. Can we watch the rest of the video now?”

He let out a quick bark of laughter “What?”

She wiggled in his arms eliciting a groan from him making her wiggle a little more, “We’re kind of good at it, don’t you want to watch it with me?”

“I’m sorry Hermosa, but I don’t think that’s a good idea for me to watch a video with you of you naked and bouncing around in bed while we’re here in my office. And technically it’s evidence right now,” he explained in an amused tone.

“Well, you can’t blame a girl for trying,” Lili told him with a smile.

“No, I don’t suppose I can. You really are incorrigible you know that?” He snickered and kissed her again.

She bounced her shoulders and leaned into him with her head on his chest and sighed, “I just hope for Sami’s sake that Jack isn’t hurt.”

“Don’t worry cariño, Liv and her team are good. They’ll find him,” he reassured her.

Leaning back Lili looked up into his green eyes, laid her hands over his chest and smoothed the fabric there down, “Are you sure you can handle my crazy? I couldn’t blame you if you wanted out, but you had better do it now.”

Rafael gave her a serious look then that made Lili’s heart skip a beat, “Hermosa, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me, I am not letting you go no matter what happens or who tries to tear us apart.”

“Good, because you’re meeting my parents Saturday night,” she told him then with a sly grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The 'Know It All' storyline will continue.


	8. Revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack is brought into SVU and Lili meets with Cutter, Liv, and Rafael. When Jack provokes her Lili shows her badass side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter is only Lili’s POV and the continuation of ‘Know It All.’

On Thursday, a few days after Rafael called her into his office about the video, he called her again and this time asked her to meet him at SVU. All he would say was that the detectives had completed their investigation and his Bureau Chief needed to speak with them both. Sami was in school but she called her mother to pick Sami up and keep her overnight just in case and she was reminded that she and Rafael were expected for dinner on Saturday. Lili rolled her eyes at the phone and placated her mother by telling her that she and Rafael would be there promptly at 6p.m. which made Sabina immensely happy.

When she got to the SVU precinct and walked in the door she looked around until she spotted Rafael standing in the doorway of an office. His back was to her and his right shoulder was leaning on the doorframe, his left hand in his pocket. The blonde detective she met in his office, Amanda, noticed her and came forward with a smile.

"Hi Lili, you can go on into Liv's office. Cutter is in there with them," Amanda told her pointing in Rafael's direction, he turned to them when he heard her name.

Lili leaned into Amanda and whispered in her ear, “Who’s Cutter?”

“Barba’s boss,” she told Lili with a slight grin.

Rafael’s expression was grim when she walked up to him and she patted his cheek giving him a quick kiss before he moved inside the door. Lieutenant Benson was there behind a desk and another man with longer graying dark blonde hair was standing to the side of a window to the left of the office. Rafael closed the door behind her and waved her to one of the chairs in front of the Lieutenant's desk before taking the other and reaching over to take her hand.

“So Lili, we have Jack in interrogation,” Benson started. “When CSU went through your apartment they found a camera hidden in a ceramic turtle on your dresser. It was feeding to a laptop in Jack’s apartment, and we found more video of you as well as Barba on it.”

“Mudak!” _Asshole_ Lili spat. “Have you asked him about it yet?”

The dark-haired lieutenant nodded and pointed to the window to their left, “Fin and Carisi are still talking to him, but he admitted to putting the camera in your bedroom. He said he got your super to let him in your apartment one evening you weren’t home a few weeks ago.”

Lili felt Rafael squeeze her hand which made her think there was more that was really going to upset her. She looked at him and he gave her a small smile that reminded her he had her back, it was nice to be with someone that could be a real partner in life.

“From what we know so far a man we’ve been investigating for rape got in touch with Jack and asked if he had anything on you that our suspect could use against Barba. Jack offered to get video of the two of you having sex and our suspect paid him five thousand dollars for it then sent it to Cutter Tuesday morning,” Benson was gesturing with her hands as she spoke and looking between Lili and Rafael.

She looked from Benson to Rafael and then to Rafael’s boss, Cutter she recalled his name, and pointed to him, “You’re Cutter? The one that got the sex video email?”

“Yes,” the man said with a glance to Rafael.

Lili let go of Rafael’s hand, he gave her a curious look as Lili stood and reached her hand out to Cutter, “Hi, I’m Lili, the naked woman moaning in the video. Nice to meet you.”

Cutter looked a little startled but shook her hand with a raised eyebrow, “Ms. Connolly…”

Looking to Rafael Lili rolled her eyes, “Please, you’ve seen me naked and writhing around like a porn star, call me Lili.” She huffed and flopped back down in her chair, Rafael turned in her direction and put his hand over the back of her neck.

“Lili then, I understand this is a sensitive issue and I’m sorry this happened, but what your ex has done is unlawful surveillance in the second degree and dissemination of an unlawful surveillance Image in the first degree. He can get up to 8 years in prison between the two charges for just the one video,” Cutter relayed to her.

Lili was shocked at that and stood up to look at Jack through the window, he actually appeared to be sober for once. Taking a deep breath she turned to look at the three people in the room with her, “What happens to him if he’s on parole for a prior felony assault?”

Rafael’s eyes went wide and his head swung to look at the woman at the desk, “Liv?”

“We hadn’t gotten to that yet Barba because I wasn’t sure if she’d told you,” she responded.

He looked at her, then Cutter, before his eyes finally settled back on Lili, “Okay, give me the short version, you can tell me the whole story tonight at my place.”

Lili was chewing her lip and watching him, “You remember when you asked if he’d ever been violent?”

“Yes,” his voice was deeper.

“He pled to second degree assault for shooting me while I was holding Sami just after she’d turned two, and got 5 years in prison of which he was paroled after one,” she said quickly, sitting back down next to her, worried that Rafael really wouldn’t want to deal with her crazy now. If he backed out of their relationship she really couldn’t blame him. He was looking at her with a mixture of hurt and anger but when she took his hand in hers and squeezed it he returned the gesture.

Cutter was looking at them, “That could change things, I’d have to look at his record, but it may increase his sentence if he’s convicted and he’d have to serve his remaining time on the prior felony.”

“Mr. Cutter, I have no feelings for the man sitting in the room next to us any longer but anger and disappointment. But I have a six-year-old daughter with that man and I don’t know how…I…” Lili started to really get upset thinking about how this would affect Sami when she thought of something and looked to Benson, “Lieutenant…”

She smiled, “Call me Liv, please.”

“Liv, did Jack say what day of the week he was in my apartment?” Lili asked her, swallowing back the sob that was bubbling up when she’d realized, yet again, that Jack had failed Sami.

Liv looked in a file on her desk, “Wednesday…”

Lili could feel the anger burning in her brain as she stood up and walked to Liv’s office door before anyone could stop her and she burst into the interrogation room where Jack sat. He jumped when she banged the door open and looked at him from across the table, “Seriously Jack?”

“What now Lili?” He rolled his eyes and looked to the two men sitting across from him with surprised looks on their faces, “Bitches be crazy, know what I mean?”

The gruff looking black man gave him a hard look, “Man I think you better watch your mouth.”

Lili slapped her hand down on the table in front of Jack and leaned down, “You have time to sneak into my house, install a camera, and record videos that you sell for five fucking thousand dollars, on the same day you failed to show up for visitation with your daughter? Do you even think about Sami? Do you even care?” She was angrier at him than she’d ever been but she kept her voice calm and even.

He leaned forward and put both of his hands on the table as he mocked her, “I wanted you to get an abortion. It was your idea to have Sami. Not mine.”

Lili felt like she’d been shot in the heart, and pointed at him, “You’re a worthless asshole Jack, Sami would be better off without a father at all.” Shaking her head she started to back out of the room and turned half a step before Jack stood up so violently he overturned his chair and went after her. She just reacted before either of the men in the room could do anything and grabbed Jack’s arm, stepping past him she chicken winged it up behind him and forced him face down onto the table. “I warned you. A long time ago. Never try that again,” she growled into his ear.

“Fuck!!!! Lili let go! You’re breaking my arm,” he screamed at her.

She shoved him and walked out of the room, her eyes were wild as she looked around and fell on the startled expressions of Cutter and Rafael, and the smiling ones of Liv and Amanda. Looking at Cutter she jutted her chin out, “You going to charge me for that?”

He shook his head with his lips pulled between his teeth trying to suppress a smile or laugh, “Nope, self-defense as far as I’m concerned.”

Nodding she looked at Rafael, “We have a lot to talk about, but I need some air right now. I’m going for a walk, I’ll see you at your apartment later?” He nodded but before he could say anything she turned and walked out of the squad room, not even realizing that she left her purse behind.

When she got to the sidewalk she took a deep breath and looked around trying to hold the tears back. Jack had hurt her deeply with those words. What he said was true, he had asked her to have an abortion, but she said no. Despite being upset at first he went to the first ultrasound with her and fell in love with the baby they didn’t know was Sami yet. Samantha had been his suggestion for a name, he begged her to let Sami have his last name. When he shot her, in a stupid drunken accident, he cried hysterically when he realized he could have hurt Sami. She thought, really believed, that he loved their little girl. Now she wasn’t sure. She stood there for a few minutes with her hands on her hips when a female voice broke through her thoughts.

“Lili?” Amanda was standing in front of her with her purse which she held out to her along with two cards. “Mine and Liv’s. We’re both single moms.”

Lili let out a laughing sob as she took her purse and looked at the cards, “Thanks.”

The blonde detective just smiled and gave a slight nod as she started to walk back in the building, but stopped just before she got to the door and turned back to Lili, “Nice takedown by the way. Where did you learn that?”

Laughing for real this time she looked at Amanda, “I have two brothers, both twice my size, and my Daddy has been a cop for 40 plus years. They were constantly teaching me self-defense to make sure I would never worry about being hurt or taken advantage of.”

Amanda nodded with a grin, “I think you freaked your boyfriend out a little.”

Lili rolled her eyes, Rafael would be able to live with that, but what about the rest of it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be Rafael’s POV and the end of my version of ‘Know It All.’


	9. Judges Be Crazy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lili tells Rafael about when she was shot and the aftermath.

**Rafael**

For once Rafael left somewhat on time, at 5:30p.m., though he realized since meeting Lili he wasn't spending quite as many late nights in the office. He was still taking case files home or to her apartment to work on at night but the compromise on his time had come easily. Lili didn't balk when their evenings were interrupted by Liv or one of her detectives on a case and she didn't get upset when he had a case file he needed to review. She was content to just spend time with him even if they were both sitting on the couch in one or other of their apartments involved in their own work. He enjoyed his time in the evenings more with her curled up on the couch next to him, always touching him, typing away on her laptop while he wrote in a legal pad. Occasionally she'd ask him a question or opinion on something she was writing. He'd raised an eyebrow the first time she asked what it felt like to be inside of her, she was trying to write a sex scene from a male character’s perspective. But his answer led him to seducing her by describing what he was going to do to her along with how it felt, and he found the more he talked the more turned on she got. She was by far the most responsive woman he'd ever been with, both in the bedroom and outside of it. Falling in love with her had been easy. The hard part he thought was going to be getting through her stubborn independence which he was starting to believe had something to do with Jack.

When he walked through his door at 6p.m. he could smell something cooking in the kitchen and hear Lili moving around in there. There were two boxes next to the front door, one with the suits he'd left at her apartment on top of it, and the other containing everything she'd left there at his. Seeing the boxes sitting there really shocked and unsettled him. His first thought was that Lili was running away from their relationship and didn't have enough faith in him to believe that he'd understand and support her. Then he was just angry. Walking into the kitchen he found her at the stove stirring something with her back to him, she was totally engrossed in what she was cooking and was humming. She was wearing a pair of jean shorts that showed just a hint of the bottom of her ass and a flowy pale green sleeveless top.

He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned on the doorway before clearing his throat.

She turned and smiled when she saw him standing there and moved toward him to stand on her tiptoes and kiss him. While his lips responded to kiss her back, he kept his arms over his chest. When she realized he wasn't moving she stepped back from him and her smile dropped when she saw his expression. "What's wrong Rafael?"

He waved towards his front door, "You tell me Lili? I thought I was coming home to have a conversation with my girlfriend about what happened at SVU today and I come home to find boxes of our things packed at my front door like we’re breaking up instead.”

“I figured if we had that conversation and you decided you really can’t handle my crazy at least this way we could make a clean break once I left here,” she explained making his heart clench. She turned back to the stove and turned the burner off before turning back around and hopping up to sit on the counter and face him.

“Do you really have so little faith in me that you think I wouldn’t understand and support you no matter what you told me? You know, I realize we haven’t known each other all that long but I really thought we knew each other better than that,” Rafael told her, he was genuinely hurt that she would just make that kind of assumption.

She leaned forward with her hands braced on the counter at her sides, "It’s not that. Of course I have faith in you Rafael, you’re an incredible man. Honest, sweet, loving, kind-hearted, strong, funny, handsome, sexy as hell. You’re everything I’ve wanted in a man to spend my life with. But I don’t want you to feel trapped by the craziness that I brought on myself, and I couldn’t blame you if you wanted out.”

Rafael raised an eyebrow as he looked at her. She was chewing her bottom lip, something he recognized she did when she was nervous about his reaction to something. “So you assumed I’d take the easy way out and just end the relationship? Where is this coming from?”

Lili rolled her eyes, “Rafael, Jack came to my apartment the first night we were together drunk and high and tried to hit you. He snuck into my apartment and planted a camera then filmed us having sex. Then he sold that sex tape to some guy that’s blackmailing you and accusing me of being a prostitute. Guys have disappeared from my life for less.”

Suddenly things were making a little more sense. He walked to where she sat on the counter, her lip between her teeth looking at him with those honey colored eyes of hers, and when she moved her knees to either side of his hips he put his arms around her. “Lili, I’m not going anywhere. I’m not those other guys, and I’m not Jack either.”

Smiling Lili put her hands on his face and kissed him. “No, you’re a good man Rafael,” she whispered against his lips.

He hummed and kissed her back grabbing her hips and pulling her forward into him making her gasp, “Next time you’re feeling unsure talk to me, don’t assume, okay?”

Her eyes met his and she nodded. “Okay Rafael,” she responded huskily.

Rafael smiled and stepped back from her causing her to sigh in frustration at the loss of contact. “Dinner then talk first, and then we can enjoy dessert.”

She rolled her eyes and laughed before hopping down from the counter, “Yes counselor.”

He swatted her ass making her squeak and give a him longing look before she went back to the stove and finished cooking what she had in the pot. She made their plates and they ate dinner at his dining room table while they talked about Sami and what she was doing in school and some of the silly jokes the squad had played on each other and him. Once they were done Rafael cleaned up their dishes and when he sat back down at the table so they could talk Lili had two sets of documents in front of her.

“So, I’m going to abbreviate this somewhat…” Lili looked at Rafael and held his hand across the table while she talked, the contact was probably to remind her he really did support her.

She proceeded to explain that in the beginning of her relationship with Jack he wasn’t a drug addicted alcoholic, but in hindsight she realized there were addiction issues she didn’t recognize at first. A year into their relationship she got pregnant despite being on birth control, Sami was a pill baby, and Jack accused her of trying to trap him with a baby wanting her to have an abortion. Lili couldn’t and gave Jack an out, telling him he didn’t need to be involved if he chose not to be. He went to the first ultrasound with her and after that told her he wanted the baby as much as she did. His addiction issues became apparent after Sami was born and things changed. One evening not long after Sami turned two Jack came into Lili’s apartment, drunk and high, playing with a gun he said a friend had given him. Lili was carrying Sami in her arms at the time and told him several times to leave, when he wouldn’t she tried to leave instead and the gun went off when he tried to stop her. Lili was shot in the chest just above her heart but a major artery was nicked, she wound up with a lot of infections, and spent a year recovering from it. During that time Jack pled to second degree assault serving a year of a five year plea before he was paroled. Lili’s parents had to take custody of Sami in order to keep her out of foster care and allow Lili’s father to put Sami on his health insurance since Lili couldn’t work and pay for the private insurance she had for them. Rafael could see she carried a lot of guilt over her parents having to take that on for her while she was recovering. Things went further downhill when Lili was finally back on her feet and able to work again and Jack got out of prison.

Pushing one set of documents toward him she tapped on them with her finger, “These are the first set of custody and visitation orders for Sami. Let’s start there.”

“Okay,” he said and picked them up and started reading. As he read he was more and more baffled. The judge refused to give custody back to Lili and ordered her parents to keep custody. Lili was allowed supervised visitation two days a week for two hours at a time, but unlimited time if she remained at her parent’s house. There was an indication in the order that Lili was instructed to find and provide suitable housing for herself and her child which was in conflict with the notation regarding visitation. “Why in the world would you agree to any of this?”

“I didn’t,” she laughed sarcastically. “The judge told me that I had made poor choices in my life and that I wasn’t fit to have custody of Sami. He said if I came back in a year and had made a home for myself and Sami, shown that I was responsible and could support both of us that he would reconsider.”

Rafael was perplexed, he wasn’t an expert in domestic law but he knew enough to realize that the order was an extreme abuse of power. Lili explained that because she hadn’t been able to work in a year and had been so sick all of her savings and most of her parent’s savings went to her medical care so there just wasn’t any money for an attorney to represent her that first time. Jack was able to have an attorney represent him and got the same visitation schedule he currently had, every second and fourth weekend and every Wednesday. Lili felt like she was put between a rock and hard place, if she wanted to be with her daughter all of the time she had to continue living with her parents, but the judge was very specific that she had to have a stable home of her own in order to get custody of Sami back. She worked hard to do that and saved her money so that when she went back to court just six months prior to meeting Rafael she had a lawyer but it didn’t seem to help much. When she pushed the second set of papers to him and he read them he was even more baffled. She was given what the judge called shared custody but only allowed to have Sami one weekend a month and two nights a week, but as long as Sami was returned to her parents’ home by curfew every night she could have Sami during the day two other days during the week. A social worker kept in close contact with her parents and Lili and reported back to the court if the order wasn’t followed.

“I pretend that when my mother is picking Sami up or that I’m dropping her off that my parents are babysitting for me and that’s what I tell people. It hurts that I’m still considered an unfit mother when I don’t even understand what makes me one. I’ve never put Sami in jeopardy, and when I’ve tried to keep Jack from taking her when he’s drunk or high he gets the money for a lawyer and I get yanked back into court and held in contempt for interfering with visitation. I still do it but I’ve been thrown in jail for it twice now. I still owe my parents for what they paid for my medical care. They don’t take Sami’s child support when Jack gives it to me for them, so I put it in an education fund for her. I can’t afford to pay for another idiot lawyer that won’t actually fight to help me get Sami back,” she explained, sounding extremely frustrated.

Rafael sat back in his chair and shook his head, “Don’t worry about that, I know someone we can call to help on it.”

Lili just looked at him, “I’m not taking any favors Rafael. I still have five thousand in savings from the twenty I got from my publisher.” When he raised an eyebrow, she shook her head, “Five went to my parents, five to the medical bills I’m still paying, and five to Sami’s college fund.”

He stood up and grabbed her hand, pulling her up and into him, “Lili, stop it with the fiercely stubborn independence. There’s nothing wrong with letting me help you.”

She just shook her head, “Yeah, maybe so. And I’m sorry for packing our stuff.”

“All’s forgiven, just talk to me from now on,” he told her seriously and kissed her.

“Yeah, I can do that,” she told him with a grin wiggling in his arms making him groan. “You’re a keeper Rafael Barba. Can we have dessert now?”

He leaned down and picked her up and carried her to his bedroom where he dropped her into the middle of the bed and relished every inch of her body. Hours later when she lay next to him naked, asleep and curled into his side, he stared up at the ceiling thinking about everything Lili had told him and really hoped Rita could help them really get Sami back. Especially after they found out that Jack took another plea. This time for 10 years, plus the one he had left on his prior sentence. He got 6 years for the video he took and sold to David Willard along with one year each for two more videos of Lili undressing, and two years for another video of Lili and Rafael having sex that were found on his computer. Sami would be almost eighteen by the time he got out of prison. Rafael realized suddenly that he had started to think of both Lili and Sami as his family, his girls, and it felt right despite how short a time he and Lili had been together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That’s the end of my version of the ‘Know It All’ storyline. And I get that the custody/visitation probably sounds ridiculous, but a friend of mine actually went through that mess so unfortunately, it’s based on reality. I’ll be back to dual POV’s in the next chapter which will include Rafael meeting Lili’s parents for the first time and more of Sami.


	10. Meet The Parents

“I’m warning you Rafael, my mother has no filter, and no shame,” Lili was telling him as he drove them out to Queens and her parent’s house for dinner that Saturday evening. It was Jack’s weekend so since he was in Riker’s her parents had Sami. Lili was hopeful the custody order would be changing very soon with the help of Rafael’s friend Rita Calhoun who they were meeting in his office the Monday coming up.

He was smirking as he watched the road and the crazy drivers around them, making Lili remember why she didn’t drive in the city. She’d wind up with road rage and probably be arrested for running someone over. Her dream car was a tank after all.

“It’s okay Lili, you remember meeting my mother in my office right? What were the first two things she asked you?” He chuckled and glanced her way.

Lili grinned, “If I was looking for a husband and father for my babies.” She reached her hand over to his jean clad thigh and started to walk her fingers toward the obvious bulge resting to the right side of his jeans, “You are pretty damn good at what goes into making babies.”

“Liliyana Connolly I really don’t want to meet your parents with a hard-on,” Rafael admonished with a glare her way and dropped his right hand to grab ahold of hers and move it closer to his knee. To Lili’s delight she had discovered that where Rafael was completely professional and straight laced when he was in the public eye, he could talk dirty to and with her and not be the slightest bit uncomfortable when they were alone.

“Spoil sport,” she pouted, “I would’ve given you a very discreet blow job on the drive over there.”

“As much as I love your mouth that one isn’t happening in public no matter how tempting,” he replied with a slight chuckle. Okay, so she understood why a sex crimes ADA wasn’t exactly keen on sex acts in public and they already had a sex video that they weren’t entirely sure hadn’t made it to the internet.

She grinned at him and leaned his way to place a kiss on his cheek when he moved enough that she could reach him while seat belted. “You’re cute when you’re being all ADAish.”

That got her a short bark of laughter out of him, “ADAish? I’ll show you ADAish when we get back to my apartment tonight.”

“Oooh, it sounds like the prosecution is baiting the witness,” Lili said and wiggled in her seat.

Rafael groaned and shifted in the driver’s seat, “You are going to be the death of me hermosa.”

Lili laughed and squeezed his hand which was still holding hers close to his right knee. They made it to her parent’s house at quarter to six to find Sami standing in the front doorway waiting for them. Rafael parked the car in the driveway as Lili instructed and they got out and made their way to the door where Sami waited.

“Mommy!” The little blonde girl rushed out to her mother and jumped into her arms.

“Hi baby, I missed you,” Lili told her daughter giving her a loud smacking kiss and hugging her little body to her as they walked through the front door that Rafael held for them.

Sami reached her arms over to Rafael and Lili grinned at him as he took the little girl in his arms, “Hi Rafi, where’s your tie?”

He chuckled at the little girl who was playing with the small gold cross sitting around his neck, “I don’t wear a tie every day Chiquita.” He’d opted for a brick colored cotton button down leaving the first three buttons undone and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

“Just for work?” Sami asked him as he followed Lili through the house.

“For work and sometimes other occasions too,” Rafael told her as they entered the kitchen and Sabina finally caught sight of them.

“Solnyshko!” Her mother exclaimed and hugged Lili placing a kiss on each of her cheeks, before turning to Rafael who was still holding Sami. “And this must be your Rafael.”

Fortunately, Rafael didn’t cringe at Sabina’s possessive use of his name in relation to her daughter, but rather he set Sami on her feet and gave Sabina one of his winning smiles before kissing her cheeks, “Mrs. Connolly, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Her mother beamed at her before looking back to give Rafael a once over and patting his cheek, “Please you call me Sabina.”

“Sabina then,” he waved toward Lili. “I see where your daughter gets her beauty from, she’s almost your spitting image.”

The older woman smiled proudly, “Yes, she gets her looks and heart from me, and her hair and strength from her father.”

“I got your mouth too,” Lili mumbled and moved to Rafael’s side leaning into him and watching Sami run out into the backyard where her father was sure to be cooking on the grill.

Sabina waggled a finger at her daughter, “Being open with your words is not a bad thing.”

“Is that what we’re calling it these days?” Peter Connolly said as he walked through the French doors that led from the deck and smiled at his wife.

Lili moved forward to hug her father and turned to Rafael, “Daddy this is Rafael Barba, my boyfriend.”

Rafael shook Peter’s hand, “It’s good to meet you sir.”

Peter nodded his head with a smile, “Call me Pete. And don’t listen to my wife. Whatever she thinks just falls right out of her mouth. Don’t let her scare you away.”

“Peter!” Sabina exclaimed as he moved around the spoon she was waving with a grin to pick up a plate of steaks from the counter and quickly gave her a kiss to her temple.

Looking to Rafael he waved to the deck, “Come on out here, away from my wife before she starts talking marriage and babies already.”

Nodding Rafael followed him outside giving Lili a kiss and smile first.

“Mama, please don’t scare him away. He’s the absolute best man I’ve ever met and my crazy doesn’t faze him,” Lili placed her palms flat onto the island in the middle of the kitchen and looked at Sabina seriously. “You on the other hand might faze him with your complete lack of filters when you talk.”

“Bah! Solnyshko, if he loves you he will not run. Does he make you happy?” Sabina asked, serious herself now.

Lili sat down at one of the stools at the island, “Very much so Mama. He’s everything I could ask for and then some.”

Sabina smiled at that and returned to the stove where she stirred what smelled like cabbage, “Good, good. He satisfies your needs? Yes?”

“Mama!!” Lili knew she was turning ten shades of scarlet.

“What? Orgasm makes it easier to get pregnant,” her mother said with a shrug.

“Well I definitely walked into the wrong conversation,” Rafael quipped with a look to Lili, he had both hands in his pockets and was smiling ear to ear. “Pete sent me in here for potatoes.”

Groaning Lili dropped her head into her hands, “Mama, please don’t say anything else.”

Sabina waved to a plate holding five foil wrapped potatoes and made a zipping motion over her lips.

**Rafael**

Rafael was highly amused when he walked into the kitchen and found Sabina talking to Lili about orgasms and pregnancy. He knew what she said was true, but they weren’t talking about marriage yet so it was a little early to be talking about more children. Sami was enough for now. If Rita could work her magic on custody then Lili would have Sami back and he could spend more time with them both. He carried the plate of potatoes out to Pete and set it on the table next to the grille.

Pete must have noticed Rafael’s smirk because he raised an eyebrow, “I can only guess what you walked into.”

“You probably don’t want to know,” Rafael told him with a laugh. “What can I help with?”

“Just tell me how you like your steak,” Pete said moving potatoes onto the grille.

“Medium rare,” Rafael told him as he watched Sami running around the backyard with the small beagle Pete had told him earlier was named Daisy.

“I can only imagine what Bina was saying to Lili. My wife has never been known for her ability to filter what she says around anyone. If you plan on sticking around just be prepared,” Pete said, and Rafael noticed the man was watching him out of the corner of his eye.

“I plan on sticking around. I love your daughter, she’s an incredible woman. I’m nothing like her ex, I can assure you of that,” he told Lili’s father seriously.

Pete looked right at him then and smiled, “Believe me ADA Rafael Barba, I’m well aware of that.”

Looking down at the beer bottle Pete handed him earlier he felt his lips twitch into an amused grin, “I should have realized you would have looked into me.”

The older man nodded, “I did, and I was pretty impressed by what I found and heard. I also heard that…” He looked to see where Sami was before he continued, “Jack got himself into some trouble.”

Rafael sighed, “Yes. My Bureau Chief, Michael Cutter, is handling the case but from what I know so far he’s facing close to 20 years if he goes to trial and gets the maximum. I asked Cutter to consider a deal since he is Sami’s father.”

“I wouldn’t bother son, that boy has never been a real father to Sami since the day she was born,” he sat back down at the table in the center of the desk and motioned Rafael to sit down as well. “Lili told you what happened?”

“Yes sir,” Rafael nodded, “I have a friend looking into the custody order to see what she can do, especially now with…” He stopped talking when Sami ran up the deck with Daisy and opened the door for the dog to go inside, then walked over to her grandfather.

“Grandaddy, can you push me in the swing?” She asked him.

Rafael stood up and held his hand out to the little girl while looking to Pete for approval, “Your grandfather is cooking Chiquita, I’ll push you in the swing.” Pete nodded at them with a smile.

Sami took his hand and led him down the stairs and over to the swing set where she hopped up into the seat and stuck her little legs out in front of her while leaning back, “Don’t push me too high.”

“I won’t Chiquita, don’t you worry,” he told the little blonde girl as he pushed the swing for her.

“Are you going to marry my mommy?” She asked after a few minutes, making Rafael snicker a little bit. Sami was very much like her mother and grandmother.

“Your mommy and I haven’t talked about that yet,” Rafael told her. “Would you be okay with it if I did?”

“Yes, you make Mommy happy,” Sami told him. “My daddy never did. He never calls or comes to see me anymore either. You talk to me.” The little girl was quiet a minute as she pumped her legs as Rafael pushed the swing. When she spoke again she broke his heart with her words, “I don’t think my daddy is a very good daddy.”

He didn’t know what to say to that so he stayed quiet. Stopping the swing he plucked Sami up out of the seat and held her little body on his left hip as he walked back to the deck where Pete was watching them. Her words hit a little close to home and reminded him a little bit of his own father. Sitting down at the table he sat Sami on his knee and looked out across the yard.

“Everything okay?” Pete cleared his throat and asked.

Sami shrugged and hopped down from Rafael’s lap, “Can I go inside with Mommy and Babulya?”  

“Of course, sweetie,” Pete told her, she ran to the door and went inside, and he turned back to Rafael who had a worried look on his face. “So…what’s wrong?”

“She just told me that she doesn’t think Jack is a good father, and my office is on the verge of having him put away probably long enough that she won’t see him again outside of prison until she’s an adult. How can he be a good father from prison?” Rafael asked him.

Pete waved the tongs he was holding, “That’s not on you son, that’s on Jack, he’s never really made an effort to be a good father for the right reasons. His reasons have always been more just to give Lili a hard time. Now, you were saying something about the custody order earlier?”

Rafael scrubbed his hands over his face and looked back to Pete, “Yeah, I have a friend looking into the custody order and Lili’s file to see what she can do about getting a new custody hearing and get her full custody of Sami. Would you and Sabina be okay with that?”

Pete sat down in front of Rafael and leaned forward toward him to emphasize his words, “Son, I love my granddaughter and I’ll do whatever I need to in order to make sure she gets the same chances my own daughter did, but there was no reason for the ridiculous way that order was written. As long as we get to see Sami and Lili as much as possible we’ll be more than happy for Sami to be back with her mother where she belongs.”

Lili and Sabina walked out onto the deck then carrying bowls of fruit and salad that they placed on the table. Rafael helped them set the table and carry out the glasses and pitcher of homemade lemonade Lili had made. Once the steaks and potatoes were on the table Sabina called Sami to dinner and the little girl ran outside and jumped up onto the seat between Rafael and Pete. She looked at the little steak sitting on her plate and pushed it Rafael’s way.

“Can you cut this up?” She asked sweetly with all of her dimples showing making Rafael’s heart melt.

“Baby I’ll get it, let Rafael eat his dinner,” Lili started to reach for her daughter’s plate and Rafael waved her off.

“I got it cariño,” Rafael told her with a wink and a smile. He’d helped Liv with Noah’s dinner on a few occasions when they worked late on a case at her place so he certainly knew how to cut up a child’s dinner into pieces they could manage.

Lili sat back with a dumbfounded look on her face while Sami was grinning ear to ear at him. He cut her steak up into little six-year-old bite size pieces, and while he was at it he cut her potato up too then pushed the plate back toward her.

“Thank you, Rafi,” she said and picked up her fork to start eating.

“You’re welcome Chiquita,” he told her with a chuckle, when he looked back to Lili her eyes were wide and there were tears in them. Lifting a hand to her cheek he used his thumb to wipe the tears away with a smile before digging into his own dinner.

Neither of them noticed Sabina reach under the table to take her husband’s hand or the look they shared that said they knew the young couple at the table with them had found their happily ever after even if they didn’t know it yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rita and Rafael’s mutual snark coming up in the next chapter. LOL


	11. Bulldogs and Sea Lions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lili and Rafael meet with Rita, and later in the week take Sami to the zoo for a family outing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long delay in updating this one! Too many story ideas have gotten stuck in my head over the last few weeks and I’ve had to put pen to paper in order to get them out of my head. A few will be posted in the next few weeks once I’m happy with them. And yes, more Rafael with a new OFC (I seem obsessed don’t I?) and a few offshoots from my first fic.

Come Monday morning Lili was extremely nervous to meet Rita Calhoun in Rafael’s office. He’d promised her that if anyone could get a new custody hearing and make things right for Sami and herself that Rita could. Rafael called her a bulldog. Lili wasn’t quite sure at first if that was supposed to be a compliment or insult, but after meeting her she’d have to say it was simply accurate.

She was sitting in one of the chairs in his office in front of his desk with her legs crossed in her black a-line skirt and she was shaking her foot. Rafael was sitting behind his desk with a file in front of him writing on a legal pad.

Rafael’s eyes lifted to hers when she sighed loudly, “Cariño, calm down. It’s 9:10, she’s not supposed to be here until 9:30.”

Lili rolled her eyes at him and sighed again, louder this time, while looking defiantly at him.

His lips quirked up in a smile and he dropped his pen onto the pad he’d been writing on. “You’re cute when you’re impatient.”

She snorted, “You have an odd idea of cute Rafael Barba.”

Chuckling he stood from his chair and came around to lean back against his desk in front of her, “It’s going to be okay cariño. Rita is good, I wouldn’t have called her if I didn’t think she would be able to get this crazy custody order overturned.”

“Wow Barba, a compliment so early in the morning? You must have had two cups of coffee already.” Lili looked over at Rafael’s office door and an attractive and tall woman in a red suit with her long light brown hair pulled away from her face stood there.

Rafael smirked and stood from where he was leaning, “Three actually. Hello Rita, how’s the dark side?”

The woman gave him an amused smile, “Pays better than where you sit.”

“At least I can sleep at night,” he quipped and walked back around his desk to stand behind it before motioning his hand to Lili and clearing his throat. “Rita, this is my girlfriend Lili Connolly, Lili this is Rita Calhoun.”

Rita smiled at Lili and shook her hand before taking the seat next to her, “Girlfriend? You finally found someone to put up with your surly disposition?”

Lili raised an eyebrow and looked between the two of them, it seemed like there was some history there Lili might want to ask about later. “He’s certainly not surly when he’s home with me. Maybe your clients just rub him the wrong way?”

Turning her head just slightly Rita’s lip quirked up and her eyes moved to Rafael, “I like her already.” Setting her briefcase next to her chair she pulled a file out and looked over at Lili who was watching her warily, “So let’s talk about this order. You had Judge Royston?” When Lili nodded Rita flipped some pages in the file, “He’s an extreme father’s rights supporter, known for removing custody from mothers for very minor issues and ordering supervised visitation where it just isn’t warranted. So unfortunately this custody order does not surprise me.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong Ms. Calhoun. I still don’t even know exactly what made him declare me an unfit mother,” Lili started to explain until Rita held up a hand to stop her and smiled.

“I know, Royston doesn’t need a good reason to declare a mother unfit, he just does,” Rita had reached the hand she held up to Lili’s forearm and squeezed before she continued. “Don’t worry, I’m going to request a different judge and it will be granted. We’ll get the order overturned and custody restored to you. I would however suggest based on your daughter’s relationship with your parents that you agree to allow visitation to them within the new order. That will show the court you are amenable to her grandparents maintaining a presence in your daughter’s life after they’ve had custody so long.”

Lili nodded, “I’ve never had an issue with that and still don’t.” She chewed her bottom lip while she thought about her next question and looked in Rafael’s eyes as she asked it, “Is it possible to have Jack’s parental rights terminated?”

Rita sighed heavily, “That’s harder. You have to be able to prove contact with him is detrimental to your daughter’s well-being. If she were older it would be easier.”

“Rita, Sami told me Saturday that she doesn’t think Jack is a good father. And he’s facing up to twenty years in prison for unlawful surveillance and dissemination,” Rafael interjected and leaned forward with his forearms resting on the desk.

“That may change things, what are the images?” Rita asked and pulled a legal pad from her briefcase and started writing.

Rafael cleared his throat, “There are two videos are of Lili undressing and two more of Lili that include me.”

Rita’s eyebrow shot up to her forehead, “Well, considering that and his prior record it may be feasible.” She looked at Lili closely then, “Are you sure that’s what you want?”

“Ms. Calhoun, he rarely shows up for visitation, he rarely calls. When he did pick her up quite often he left her with strangers and didn’t spend any time with her anyway or he’d be drunk or high, or both, while she was with him. And he did shoot me while I was holding Sami when she was two. Eventually he’s going to leave her with the wrong person or he’s going to hurt her while he’s out of it,” Lili fisted her hands in the fabric of her skirt and looked to Rafael again. “Her comment to Rafael wasn’t the first one. She’s said similar things to my parents and me. Sami is really well adjusted but every time he doesn’t show up, or I have to go get her, or he’s not acting like her daddy she gets upset. She knows, she sees. I’d rather make the decision to terminate his rights so she doesn’t have to go through that every damn week. If she asks to see him when she gets older I’ll let her but there’s no reason to force the issue any more.”

When Lili looked back over to Rita she had a speculative look on her face and a small smile playing on her lips before she turned her gaze to Rafael, “I see why you like her. She’s strong and she speaks her mind.” Rita looked back to Lili, “Would you be willing to have her evaluated by a psychiatrist?”

“If it’s one Rafael trusts then yes,” Lili answered firmly, she wasn’t opposed to it, but she didn’t want someone Rafael wasn’t familiar with talking to her daughter. Sami had been through enough, she didn’t need to be manipulated by someone whose primary goal was to create issues that might not exist for their own gain.

Rita and Rafael looked at each other before Rita spoke again, “I think we can find someone we can agree on.”

“I only have five thousand dollars Ms. Calhoun…” Lili started to say before Rafael interrupted.

“Lili, I told you not to worry about that,” he said and Rita cleared her throat making both Lili and Rafael look over at her.

“Look, as antagonistic as we are with each other I respect Rafael and I think he feels the same,” she looked to him with a raised eyebrow and he nodded. “I’m more than willing to take your case and do it pro bono.”

Lili started to open her mouth to protest, she didn’t like anyone feeling sorry for her or doing favors for her but Rita held a hand up with a smile, “I have a daughter myself, I know how I’d feel if I were in the same situation. Let me do this. Besides if I can get them to look at Royston for abuse of judicial power it will make me look good.”

Rafael chuckled, “Always an angle Rita.”

The defense attorney stood with a smile and picked up her briefcase, “It’s a win-win. Besides I really can’t stand Royston.”

“Thank you, Ms. Calhoun,” Lili reached her hand out and shook the older woman’s hand.

She nodded, “I’ll be in touch.” Rita walked out of Rafael’s office then with a wave of her hand.

Lili sat back in her chair with a deep breath, “Is she really that good?”

He pursed his lips and nodded, “She is, she used to be a prosecutor.”

That made Lili’s eyes widen, now she understood some of the antagonism between the two, “Wow.”

“Believe me cariño, if anyone can make this right Rita can. We don’t always get along when it comes to cases but I do have a great amount of respect for her and she is good at what she does,” he told her and came around his desk to sit next to her and take her hand in his again.

Lili smiled and put her hand on Rafael’s cheek before kissing him firmly on the lips, “I trust you Rafael. Unconditionally.”

She saw something in his eyes that looked a lot like surprise and a little bit of something else as well that she had only seen in her father’s eyes when it came to his wife or children. Rafael’s long fingers curled around her hand and he turned his head to put his lips in her palm and kissed her there. Something about the way he did it made her heart melt and her eyes water. When he saw the tears he chuckled lightly and pulled her over into his arms so she was cuddled in his lap.

“I love you,” he whispered in her ear and ran a hand over her cheek.

Sitting up in his lap she looked directly in his gorgeous green eyes that spoke volumes about how he felt in any moment if you knew how to read him. Right then his eyes reflected the love he was expressing and a fierce determination. Leaning her head down she kissed him, lightly but with enough passion to let him know how she felt. “I love you too.”

**Rafael**

Rita kept her promise, before the end of the week she had a new judge assigned to Lili’s custody petition. They had even agreed on a psychiatrist to evaluate the pros and cons of keeping Jack in Sami’s life or terminating his rights. She had advised them to continue to follow the custody and visitation order as it was currently written and while it was frustrating he knew there was an end to it in site. Rafael was extremely happy and when he let Lili know the good news she broke down and sobbed in his arms as they sat on his couch. They called her parents who were ecstatic that something was finally moving in the right direction and Pete thanked Rafael specifically for getting Lili to talk to Rita.

That Saturday they took Sami to the Central Park Zoo. She wanted to see the sea lions so they spent the day wandering and looking at the animals, eating cotton candy and junk food from the snack vendors there, and watched the sea lion show in the afternoon. Rafael was surprised at how much he was enjoying spending a day with his girls at the zoo. Something he’d never liked as a child because his father always found a way to ruin any family outing. It had led Rafael to believing he’d never want a family or domesticity. Lili changed his mind on that very quickly and he was grateful to have found her.

They were walking back to his car, he was holding Sami who was asleep on his left hip, and his right hand was holding Lili’s. Lili kept trying to take Sami, telling him he didn’t need to carry her, but he just kept turning away from her with a smile and a kiss when she tried. He had been enjoying carrying the little girl and didn’t find it to be the burden Lili was worried he would think of it. When they got to his car he put Sami in her car seat still sound asleep, brushed back the blonde curls of her left pigtail from her face and kissed her forehead. When he stood and quietly closed the door he found Lili standing behind him with a huge smile on her face, eyes watery.

He took her hands in his and pulled her toward him, she dropped her forehead to the crook of his neck and he could hear her sniffling. “What’s wrong Hermosa?”

She snorted and tilted her head back so he could see the emotion in her eyes, “Nothing Rafael, absolutely nothing. You are wonderful. Too good to be true.”

That made him chuckle and he kissed her upturned lips, “No I’m not cariño. I’m just me.”

“That’s just it. The things that are so hard to find in a man, the things that make a good man, are just a natural part of you. It’s not an effort for you. It’s not a lie. It’s you,” she had fisted her hands in the fabric of his polo shirt and pressed herself into him.

Rafael didn’t really know how to take that so he gave her another kiss when they heard a knocking on his car window. His eyebrow raised and Lili rolled her eyes as he moved her to his side away from the door and opened it. Sami was awake and rubbing her eyes looking at them.

“I’m hungry,” she said in a slightly sullen tone.

“Well Chiquita, what do you say I take you and Mommy out for dinner?” Rafael asked her with a grin and a squeeze to Lili’s side.

“Okay, McDonald’s?” Sami asked hopefully.

“Baby, how about we go somewhere else and you have chicken tenders?” Lili asked her with slightly narrowed eyes.

“No! I want McDonald’s!” The little girl had balled up her hands and slammed them down on her jean covered thighs.

Lili started to move in to scold her daughter but Rafael put his hand up out of Sami’s line of sight to stop her from saying anything. She gave him a questioning look but nodded and stepped back with her arms across her chest.

He kneeled next to Sami in the car and put his hand on the side of her car seat, “Chiquita, who picked out the zoo for our outing today?”

She had crossed her arms over her chest and looked much like her mother right then. “Me,” she huffed.

“And did you have cotton candy before eating lunch today?” Rafael continued, out of the corner of his eye he noted Lili was watching him with some curiosity.

“Yes,” Sami replied testily.

Watching the little girl carefully he held one of his hands up next to hers, “Mmhmm, and who asked for that?”

“Me,” she replied and was tracing the lines on his palm.

“Do you think since you’ve been able to pick so much of what we’ve done today that maybe it would be nice to let Mommy pick dinner? And we could go to McDonald’s for lunch another time?” He asked calmly taking her little hand in his and giving it a small squeeze.

Sami chewed on her bottom lip and looked so much like Lili when she did, it made Rafael want to laugh, “Okay Rafi.”

He kissed her forehead again and tapped her chin with his finger before standing up and closing the car door.

Lili was smiling at him with her arms still crossed over her chest, “You’re good with her. Better than Jack ever was.”

Rafael started laughing, “You realize I resorted to cross examining her right?”

Lili’s shoulders bounced and she snorted, “It worked. She’s not a normal six-year-old.”

“She’ll keep me on my toes then, that’s good,” he’d taken her hand and walked her around to the passenger door which he opened for her. When she was in the car and safely buckled in he gave her a quick kiss on the lips and went around to the driver’s side door. He stood there a second with his hand on the door realizing that this was his family now. There was no question of if, it was a question of when. And the more he thought on it the more he realized how right they felt to him.


	12. The Next Step

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rafael considers the next step in his relationship with Lili and has a talk with her parents.

**Rafael’s POV**

It took several months but true to her word Rita was able to get the custody order changed. Lili would have full sole custody of Sami while her parents would essentially take over Jack’s visitation schedule and have Sami every Wednesday and the 2nd and 4th weekends of every month. The psychiatrist evaluation of Sami determined that it was not in the best interest of her mental well-being for her to have continued contact with Jack. After reviewing that report along with the report of the shooting when Sami was two and the reason Jack was currently in prison the judge also granted the request to terminate his parental rights. Rafael and Lili discussed the issue with Rita and Lili’s parents and came to the decision that once Sami was a reasonably mature teen if Jack ever asked to see her they would leave the decision to Sami.

Now that custody was settled Rafael was seriously thinking about the next step forward in his relationship with Lili. The lease on Lili’s current apartment was set to expire in about six weeks, and he really wanted his girls under the same roof with him. It was Saturday and Lili and Sami went out with Liv, Noah, Amanda, and Jesse to the park and they were going to have lunch and take the kids for ice cream afterwards. Since they were occupied he decided to drop by her mom and dad’s house to talk to them about what he was thinking.

When he got there he stood on the porch looking at the door a few minutes before lifting his hand to ring the bell but before he could the door opened and Pete was standing there smiling at him. “Well son, are you going to stand there looking at the door or do you want to come in?”

“Ah I…” Rafael started sheepishly, “wanted to come in, and talk to you and Sabina.”

Pete pushed the door open and stood aside to let him in while pointing to the kitchen where he could hear Lili’s mother at the stove and smell her cabbage. Every time he’d been to their house with Lili since meeting them she always served cabbage with just about everything she made. Lili said it was a Russian thing, Sabina said it was an Irish thing, and Pete said it was a Sabina thing. Rafael didn’t really care, her cabbage was good.

When he walked in the kitchen Sabina’s face lit up when she saw him, “Rafael!! Where is my solnyshko?”

“She took Sami with some friends of ours for a day in the park then lunch and ice cream,” he told her and gave her a hug.

Running her eyes over his jean clad frame she shook her head, “You need some corned beef and cabbage.”

He couldn’t help it, he started to laugh and she gave him the same look his mother gave him when she was going to hit him with a spoon. Holding up his hands with a grin he sat down in one of the island chairs.

Pete walked up and sat down beside him before leaning in his direction and whispering loudly, “Smooth son, real smooth.”

Rafael looked at him and shrugged as Sabina sat a plate full of food in front of him and one in front of Pete. She put her hands on the countertop and looked at him, “Eat then you talk.”

“Yes ma’am,” he said picking up the fork she pushed his way and noticed Pete was grinning and nodding at Sabina while he started eating.

Rafael ate in silence with one eye on Lili’s mother who was leaning against the counter across from them, arms crossed over her chest, holding a spoon. When they were both done he picked up his plate along with Pete’s and went to the sink to rinse them both off and put them in the dishwasher before he returned to his seat. Lacing his hands together he rested his forearms on the top of the island and looked at them a minute while he gathered his thoughts.

“Son, for a lawyer you have a hard time finding your words,” Pete teased him.

He chuckled, “It’s not that I can’t find the words, I just don’t want to either be beaten with a spoon or shot where I sit.”

Sabina smirked and put her spoon in the sink, “I will give you a head start if my husband goes to get his gun.”

“That’s reassuring,” he murmured, then took a deep breath and looked between them. “I want to ask Lili and Sami to live with me, but before I do I wanted to ask how you would both feel about that?”

“Son,” Pete addressed Rafael after a glance to his wife who was smiling ear to ear. “Lili has never been happier than she’s been since she met you. Frankly if the two of you are happy we’re happy for you. However, as her father, I need to ask if you intend to marry her at some point?”

Rafael knew that question was coming and was prepared for it. “I do, but I’m forty-six years old and while I’ve had my share of girlfriends I’ve never lived with a woman except my mother. And I don’t have a lot of experience with kids, I’ve done fine with Sami so far but it’s been hours at a time, not overnight or days. I’d be lying if I said marriage didn’t scare me. My parents weren’t the best role models for a good marriage, and my father makes Jack look like a good father.”

Sabina was smiling at him with tears in her eyes and moved around the counter to hug him, “Rafael, you will do just fine.”

He returned the hug and patted her back, “Thanks, but I don’t have your confidence.”

Pete laughed, “Son, my daughter is one of the easiest women to live with. You’ll be fine.”

“Peter Connolly, that sounded like you imply your own wife is not so easy to live with,” Sabina released Rafael and turned to look at her husband.

“Not at all Bina, not at all,” he reached out to grab his wife’s hand and pull her into a hug and winked at Rafael over her head.

Well, now all Rafael had to do was bring it up to Lili without her thinking he was suggesting they live together in lieu of getting married.

**Lili’s POV**

Lili and Sami had so much fun with Liv, Noah, Amanda, and Jesse they decided to make it a monthly Saturday outing. Now that Lili had full custody of Sami without any social workers keeping tabs on her or judges threatening to throw her in jail if she violated the order she didn’t have to be so selfish with the time she got to spend with her daughter. They were spending more and more time with Rafael at their apartment and the occasional overnight at his place as well. Sami thought those nights were a great adventure because she got to stay in his extra bedroom in a grown-up bed. Frankly Lili thought it would be easier if they just consolidated and all lived in the same place but she wasn’t sure how he would feel about that. He was coming over that evening and would be spending the night with them so maybe she could work a hint into their conversation somehow.

Sami was sitting on the couch reading a book, even though she was in the first grade she was reading on a third-grade level and went through books like crazy. Lili had opted to make Chicken Kiev and her mother’s cabbage since Rafael liked it so much. She could swear he was going to turn into a head of cabbage with the amount of it he ate at her parent’s house. When his key sounded in the front door she heard Sami jump off the couch and run over to greet him as he walked in. Sami barely let him get in the door before she was telling him about their day with her new friends.

Rafael walked into the kitchen holding Sami on his left hip with a huge smile on his face as she babbled at him about Liv and Noah then Amanda and Jesse. He leaned down to give her a kiss and whisper ‘te amo’ in her ear as Sami continued on. Shaking her head at him she thought to remind him that her six-year-old daughter could walk but she thought he actually liked holding Sami and held her tongue. Taking Sami from his arms she shooed her back to the living room and her book.

“I think she’s still on a sugar high from the ice cream after lunch,” Lili told him and grabbed the lapels of his button down to pull him into her and give him a proper kiss. When she was done she smiled up at him and licked her lips, “I might have brought home some ice cream for dessert for later.” She was thinking to satisfy sugar cravings after sex later in the evening.

He smiled that slow sexy grin of his that practically turned her knees to water and his voice was low and husky when he spoke, “Hermosa YOU are the best dessert a man could ever ask for.”

Gods he knew how to make a woman melt with just the way the changed the tone of his voice, “Well, just for that lovely compliment I might know a way to spice things up later.”

She loved the charming way his eyebrows rose in curiosity as he looked at her, “I’ll have to remind you of that later. But for now I need to talk to you.”

Lili’s heart fell, when a man said he needed to talk it was never good, “Okay.”

“Hermosa, stop looking so sad, it’s good. I promise,” he reassured her with a finger under her chin and a kiss to her temple.

She hopped up on the counter so she didn’t have to keep tilting her head back to look at him and opened her knees so he could step between them.

“Your lease here is up in about six weeks right?” He asked her as he settled his hands on her hips.

“Yeah, I was debating renewing here or looking for another place,” she said, she really wasn’t looking forward to renewing where she was. It wasn’t as close to Rafael as she’d like to be but she couldn’t afford the rent in the area where he lived.

“Don’t renew, or look for another place. Move in with me,” he said quickly.

Her eyes rose to meet his, he looked hopeful, and all she could think was that he had been thinking the same thing she was all along. With a wide happy smile she nodded and put her arms around his neck and pulled herself into him.

“Is that a yes to moving in together?” He asked with a chuckle.

Lili tilted her head back and laughed, “Of course it is.” She peppered his face with kisses and rested her forehead on his, “I had actually been thinking of dropping a hint to you that we should live together, but I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about it since I have Sami full time now.”

He put his hands on her upper arms and pushed her back away from him slightly, “Lili, you and Sami come together. I wouldn’t be with you if I hadn’t wanted to accept that from the beginning.”

Tears sprang to her eyes, he was just so ridiculously incredible she had no idea how she’d been so lucky to find him. “I love you Rafael. Oh my god I can’t wait!” Then she froze, “Shit.”

His eyebrows furrowed in concern, “What’s wrong?”

“Well, my parents weren’t overly happy during the few months Jack lived with me,” she explained.

He started laughing, the rumbling in his chest reverberating through her as he laughed, and she just looked at him like he was a mad man. “Don’t worry about them Lili, I went over there today to talk to your mom and dad about it first. They said as long as we’re happy they’re happy.”

Her mouth dropped open as she looked at him, “You talked to my parents already? You knew that would be important?”

“Well, I figured as close as you were to them that it would be,” he told her with a smile.

“You’re incredible Rafael, do you know that?” Lili asked him

“You may not think that after living with me for a while,” he quipped with a grin.

“Baby, I’m going to love living with you,” Lili said and wiggled her ass knowing it would drive him crazy.

“We’re going to live with Rafi?!” Sami screeched from the doorway.

Rafael groaned quietly and just turned his head to the little girl in the doorway, looking down Lili realized how much her wiggle affected him. “Yes Chiquita, you are.”

“Hurray!!! I can’t wait, I get to sleep in a grown-up bed!” She started jumping up and down and running around the kitchen singing that they were going to live with her Rafi.

Rafael looked at Lili and she could see his green eyes were shining, Sami called him her Rafi had really affected him. Smiling she cupped his cheek and kissed him tenderly. “She loves you Rafael. And so do I.”

“I love you too Lili,” he whispered, his voice a little shaky but she knew he was just as happy as she was.


	13. Changes...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raf and Lili move in together, and Sami surprises them both.

Lili and Rafael spent the weeks up to the end of her lease making decisions on what was staying versus what they would get rid of. They both knew they couldn’t keep everything. The second bedroom in Rafael’s apartment was easy, they were going to sell the furniture already in there so it could be replaced by Sami’s. There wasn’t anything else in there but some lamps that could be sold with the furniture. The couch in his office would be replaced with Lili’s desk, Rafael’s living room furniture would stay, Lili’s dining room set would replace his, and they were going to get rid of both of their bedroom sets and buy a new one together. All in all they felt like it was a reasonable compromise and all they needed to worry about was figuring out the odds and ends. By the time Lili’s lease was up they had completely moved her and Sami into Rafael’s apartment and cleaned out her old one.

Lili thought Rafael was taking everything in stride, even when Sami would go into his office while he was working and set up her dolls for a tea party. The first time it happened Rafael had calmly shooed Sami out of the office and back to her room with Lili watching from the kitchen with an amused smile. After doing that five or six times Lili walked in one day to find him wearing a tiara and pink feather boa with a small tea cup on his desk. To his credit he was still reviewing the case file he’d been working on and writing on his legal pad though his face was awfully red. Her boyfriend and daughter eventually seemed to reach some kind of agreement where her tea parties were concerned. She actually started finding him sitting on the floor with his coffee taking a break from work and playing ‘guest’ for Sami. That seemed to satisfy Sami somehow and when the party was over she would pack up her things and take them back to her room after thanking Rafael and giving him a kiss on his cheek. Frankly knowing Sami Lili was pretty sure Sami was doing that to play ‘Daddy’s Little Girl’ more than anything since she’d never been one to play with her dolls all that much.

Of course the first time he walked into the master bathroom after they moved in and he found her toiletries neatly placed among his own she thought he might have a heart attack. The bathroom was huge, with a lot of unused space, so there was more than enough space for her things without it looking cluttered or severely feminine. On the occasions she had spent the night at his apartment before they moved in together she had never taken much with her and she never left her things out. Not that she was high maintenance and needed a lot of beauty products, to the contrary she was fairly minimal, but she thought it was a shock to his system to see her things actually out among his. She found it highly amusing when he opened the undersink cabinet one day and found her box of tampons under there. His face flamed red immediately and he slammed the door shut without getting whatever it was that he was after.

To her delight she discovered that Rafael could cook, not bachelor type cooking, but really cook. She made dinner for them during the week since his schedule wasn’t always reliable and on the weekends he would make dinner for them all. He introduced them to different Cuban dishes and if possible Lili thought she loved him even more. They did continue his Saturday morning breakfasts with his mother who absolutely adored Sami and had the little girl calling her Abuelita almost immediately. When Rafael told Lili that meant granny she almost broke down in tears, she hadn’t expected Lucia to accept Sami so easily.

She was quite literally living the life of her dreams, living with her boyfriend and finally having her daughter full time. The fact that Rafael doted on Sami and treated Lili like she was the only woman in his world were a dream come true for Lili. During the day she worked at her desk in the office she now shared with Rafael and because Sami’s school was within walking distance she could walk down there to pick her up. Of course Lili’s mother still picked Sami up from school every Wednesday as per the new custody agreement. Rafael tried to make it out of his office by 5 on Wednesdays so he and Lili could have an evening alone together every week. Sometimes they would just stay in and watch a movie, others they would go out to dinner and make a date of it, but they always wound up making love. Lili had to admit one really nice thing about living with Rafael was that they shared a bed every night.

One Thursday night about a month after they’d been living together full time Lili was in the kitchen making dinner while Sami sat in her room reading one of her books. Rafael had texted her that he would be home around 6 so Lili was hoping the three of them might be able to have dinner all together. Quite often Lili would wind up feeding Sami first, then eating herself, and setting a plate aside for Rafael to stay warm in the oven. She never resented his job or schedule, but she certainly cherished the nights he could be home early enough that the three of them could sit around the dinner table together.

She was making teriyaki chicken and potatoes for dinner that evening and was just pulling them out of the oven when Rafael walked through the front door. Smiling to herself she noted he was even 10 minutes early. He walked into the kitchen still holding his briefcase and loosening his tie and dropped a kiss onto her upturned lips.

“I just pulled the chicken out of the oven so you have time to change before dinner,” she told him while she pulled his tie out of its knot.

“Has Sami eaten yet?” He asked from the doorway as he started to walk to their bedroom.

“No, she wanted to wait for you since you said you’d be home by six,” Lili told him.

“Good, it will be nice to have dinner with both my girls,” he grinned back at her.

Lili’s heart melted at his words, she was used to him calling them his girls by then but it still brought tears to her eyes every time she heard it. She watched him walk away, smiling and appreciating how his ass filled out his trousers. Turning back to dinner she moved the chicken and potatoes to a platter and called Sami from her room. Sami ran out and went to set the table as was their routine by now as Lili put the chicken as well as a bowl of salad on the table. Rafael came out a few minutes later and lifted Sami up onto her chair which had a booster seat in it before he sat down next to Lili. When he was home for them to all have dinner together it had become Rafael’s routine to make Sami’s plate before worrying about his own, something else that warmed Lili’s heart. Jack had only ever worried about himself and Lili was often lucky if she got to eat while food was hot.

Sami was swinging her legs back and forth and taking small bites of her food while glancing over at Rafael. Finally she paused with a piece of chicken on her fork, “Rafi how do you say daddy in Spanish?”

Rafael raised an eyebrow and looked over to Lili before turning his head back to Sami, “Papi. Why Chiquita?”

She shrugged her shoulders before putting the chicken in her mouth, “Just wondering.”

Lili had a suspicion as to why she asked but wasn’t going to voice it over the table right then. They finished eating and Lili went to give Sami her bath while Rafael cleaned up the dinner dishes.

She was washing Sami’s hair and watching her daughter play with a squeaky Snoopy bath toy, “Baby, why did you ask Rafael for the Spanish word for daddy?”

Sami smiled over at her mother, “Because he acts like a daddy and I wanted to know what to call him.”

“Oh,” Lili’s hands had stilled in Sami’s hair and there were tears in her eyes.

“Don’t be sad Mommy,” Sami told her and patted Lili’s cheek with her little hand.

Lili chuckled and shook her head, “I’m not sad baby, you just made me happy is all.”

“Do you think Rafi would be happy too?” She asked and dunked her Snoopy toy under the water while Lili finished rinsing her hair.

“Yeah baby, I think he would be very happy,” Lili told her.

**Rafael’s POV**

Rafael was just putting last dish from dinner away when Lili walked out into the kitchen with a huge smile on her face. Lili’s smile was infectious and he could feel the corners of his mouth turning up as he looked at her.

“Sami wants you to read to her tonight,” she held a book out to him, ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.’

He raised an eyebrow while taking the book and looking at the cover, “That better not give her any ideas.”

Lili started laughing, “Ideas for what Raf?”

“Living with a man when she grows up before she gets married,” he said tightly, ignoring the fact that they weren’t married which just made Lili laugh even harder. He rolled his eyes at her, “She’s not going to date until she’s 40 if I have anything to say about it.”

Lili snorted and gave him a fond look, “Well can we save that discussion for another day and just read her the story tonight?”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said and took the book from her while he skimmed through it shaking his head. It wasn’t the first time he’d read to Sami but it was the first time she’d asked for him to read that particular fairy tale.

When he got to Sami’s room she was already under her covers but sitting up and had a stuffed dog that he’d given her tucked in next to her. That made him smile. Lili had worried that he wouldn’t adjust to having an almost seven-year-old girl in the house where he worried that Sami would somehow start to resent him being there. He was trying really hard to be the best father figure he could when the only experience he had with kids were Eddie and Liv’s sons, both little boys. So he had no experience with girls except Rollins’ daughter who was just a baby, but so far he didn’t think he’d done so bad.

With a small grin he held the book out for Sami to see, “I hear you want me to read this story?”

Her eyes lit up and she nodded, “Yes, please.”

He could sense Lili in the doorway behind them as he started reading the story to her. While he read, he cringed when the dwarves asked Snow White to live with them and then again when Snow White accepted the apple from the witch. Jesus, were fairy tales always full of ways for little girls to get hurt? He felt like he was reading a medieval version of a potential SVU case. Maybe he was just cynical because of how long he’d been prosecuting sex crimes, every time he turned around he saw something that might hurt Sami or Lili. He breathed a sigh of relief when the story was done and heard Lili chuckling softly behind him.

Shaking his head he tucked Sami into her covers and leaned over to kiss her forehead, “Goodnight Chiquita.”

Sami smiled and closed her eyes, “Goodnight Papi, I love you.”

Rafael froze and heard Lili suck in a breath, looking down on Sami he smiled and brushed a stray curl from her face, “Te amo sweet girl.”

He got up and walked quickly out of Sami’s room and back into the kitchen where he got a tumbler down out of the cabinet and poured himself a finger of scotch. Downing the drink he stood against the cabinet for a minute and poured himself another drink which he picked up and swirled the liquid around his glass. Rafael smelled Lili’s light floral perfume before he felt her wrap her arms around his waist and press herself into his back. Resting his hand over top of her arms he leaned back into her.

“Are you okay Raf?” She asked quietly against his shoulder blade.

“Better than okay Lili, I have a beautiful girlfriend that loves me whose little girl just called me Daddy. I couldn’t be any better,” he murmured.

She chuckled against his back, “I was afraid you’d freak out when she actually called you Papi.”

“No, I was just a little surprised, it wasn’t something I ever expected. Honestly, I figured she’s always consider Jack her daddy,” he left his drink on the counter and turned around with her in his arms.

Lili pursed her lips, “I don’t think she’s looked at Jack as her daddy in a long time. You’ve been more a father to her in the short time we’ve been together than he ever truly was.”

He snickered at that, “And here I thought I was still bad with little girls.”

“Not Sami, she really does love you Raf,” Lili kissed him then making his train of thought veer in a different direction.

“Hmmm, I can’t say I ever thought I’d have the chance to be a father, but I’m feeling pretty lucky to have found you both,” he whispered as his head dipped to her neck and nibbled the area he knew was most sensitive there.

“We’re lucky to have you too Rafael Barba,” she said and pressed herself further into him with a smile before she wiggled in his arms.

He groaned and leaned down to kiss her lips then and she grabbed fistfuls of his shirt and pulled him down the hallway to their bedroom.


	14. UPDATE

I know several people have asked if I am continuing this fic. There hadn't been a lot of interest in it and I lost motivation. But I will work on chapters to close out the storyline so it's not just hanging out there unfinished. It might take me some time to get through it but I will. If you're interested and still reading thank you! :)

**Author's Note:**

> Would love to hear from you as to what you think, any requests, etc. I'm always working to better my writing.


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